State v. Sheeders

Citations

• 2019 Ohio 3120

Syllabus

After a bench trial, the trial court did not err in finding the appellant guilty of aggravated menacing and unlawful restraint. The victim's testimony that appellant brandished a knife, confiscated cell phones, and issued verbal threats in order to keep the victim and others confined to bedrooms, and that the victim feared appellant would cause her serious physical harm, constituted sufficient evidence to sustain his convictions. Although appellant questioned the victim's credibility, the convictions were not against the manifest weight of the evidence. Additionally, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting a knife into evidence, as the victim identified that knife as the one that appellant used, admission of the specific knife was not necessary in order to prove the elements of the offenses, and the trial court also gave no indication of what weight, if any, it gave to that knife in reaching findings of guilt. Judgment affirmed.