State v. Navarro

Citations

• 2025 Ohio 227

Syllabus

MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE; INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL; ABUSE OF DISCRETION; SEPARATION OF WITNESSES; DENIAL OF MOTION FOR A NEW TRIAL; MERGER. The defendant-appellant's rape convictions are not against the manifest weight of the evidence. The defendant-appellant cannot prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel because he is unable to show that his trial counsel's performance was deficient or unreasonable under the circumstances. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by allowing the State's sole rebuttal witness to testify even though the rebuttal witness was present in the courtroom during portions of the State's case in chief. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying the defendant-appellant's motion for a new trial since he was neither prejudiced nor prevented from having a fair trial. The trial court did not err by failing to merge the defendant-appellant's two rape convictions.