State v. Yeban

Citations

• 246 N.E.3d 1150
• 2024 Ohio 2545

Syllabus

PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT – HEARSAY – PRESENT SENSE IMPRESSION – CONFRONTATION CLAUSE – R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(h) — MISDEMEANOR SENTENCING – R.C. 2929.22(C): The prosecutor did not commit prejudicial misconduct by commenting on a police officer's professionalism, replying to defense counsel's reluctance to read jury instructions, commenting on the defense theory of the case and defendant's testimony, or asking the jury to do the right thing in its verdict. The prosecutor committed misconduct in closing argument by remarking that defendant was lying in his testimony, but that error did not prejudice defendant's ability to receive a fair trial. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting a recorded 911 call, where the caller was relaying present sense impressions about his observations. The trial court committed at most harmless error in admitting statements about defendant made by a police office on his body-worn camera video in violation of the Confrontation Clause. Defendant's conviction for operating a motor vehicle with a breath-alcohol concentration (\BAC\) above 0.17 percent in violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(h) was supported by sufficient evidence where the state introduced a test result of defendant's BAC and circumstantial evidence supported the inference that defendant was driving. Defendant's conviction for operating a motor vehicle with a breath-alcohol concentration (\BAC\) above 0.17 percent in violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(h) was not against the manifest weight of the evidence where the jury had the opportunity to weigh defendant's credibility and the credibility of the state's witnesses. The trial court abused its discretion in imposing a maximum misdemeanor sentence that was based upon criteria outside those set forth in R.C. 2929.22(C). [But see DISSENT: The trial court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing defendant to maximum sentence where the court properly considered defendant's testimony and statements pursuant to R.C. 2929.22(