State v. Moreland

Citations

• 2026 Ohio 2310

Syllabus

The trial court did not violate appellant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel when upon appellant's receipt of a five-month continuance of his trial and later request to substitute counsel six days before that new trial date, it ordered proposed substitute counsel to be prepared for trial and denied the defense's motion to continue. Ineffective assistance of counsel is not demonstrated in defense counsel's (1) failure to object to testimony describing the murder victim as a \little girl\ and comparing her to his own family members; (2) stipulation to the authenticity of GPS data from the vehicle driven by Moreland at the time of the murder; (3) failure to request a clarifying instruction on aiding and abetting; (4) failure to object to testimony regarding Moreland's motive for the shooting; (5) failure to object to evidence that Moreland was the subject of gun violence in 2021; and (6) failure to raise a Batson challenge. Finally, the trial court did not err in granting the State's motion for joinder of Moreland's failure to comply case with his murder case. Judgments affirmed.