State v. Russaw

Citations

• 2022 Ohio 2145

Syllabus

Manifest weight of the evidence right to due process jury instructions ineffective assistance of counsel trial strategy and tactics. Appellant appealed his convictions for rape, sexual battery and gross sexual imposition contending that his conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence. The court held that any inconsistency in the victim's testimony did not render the victim's testimony so out of the realm of possibility that it lacked credibility. Appellant next argued that the trial court plainly erred by charging the jury with the elements of the offenses after the victim testified. Appellant also contended that his counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to object to the charge and in failing to move to strike inadmissible opinion testimony. However, the court held that the appellant could not show that the outcome of the trial would have been different but for the assigned errors. Accordingly, the court overruled appellant's assigned errors and affirmed the judgment of the trial court.