State v. Scott

Citations

• 2024 Ohio 5595

Syllabus

Appellant was found guilty of murder as a proximate result of felonious assault with a deadly weapon, pursuant to a theory that he had acted in complicity with the principal offender; he was found not guilty of the predicate felonious assault offense and accompanying firearm specifications. The allegedly inconsistent verdicts do not compel reversal of the murder conviction, because sufficient evidence supported the jury's felony murder verdict. The jury instruction for felony murder was not improper; that offense does not contain a mens rea element, and the jury was properly instructed on the knowingly element of the underlying felonious assault charge. Counsel did not provide ineffective assistance in failing to object to the jury instructions or to move for a new trial on the basis of the inconsistent verdicts. Judgment affirmed.