State v. Stenson

Citations

• 2026 Ohio 2280

Syllabus

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT – FELONIOUS ASSAULT – INFERIOR OFFENSE – JURY INSTRUCTIONS – MANIFEST WEIGHT – MERGER – SUFFICIENCY – R.C. 2903.11: Where the same conduct provided the basis for two felonious assault charges, and the record reflected that a jury could find defendant guilty on the inferior offense of aggravated assault, the trial court abused its discretion by providing the inferior offense jury instruction on one count and not the other. Because defendant's conduct underlying her convictions on two separate counts of felonious assault involved the same import, occurred as a single course of conduct, and was not driven by a separate animus, they are allied offenses of similar import that must be merged for sentencing. Defendant's conviction for felonious assault was supported by sufficient evidence and was not against the manifest weight of the evidence where witnesses testified that defendant had chased the victim with a car.