State v. Black, 149 N.E.3d 1132

Defendant Rayshon Black was indicted for rape, kidnapping (with sexual-motivation specification), and gross sexual imposition arising from an August 4, 2016 incident; victim was his adult stepdaughter, T.S.
T.S., who has cerebral palsy and a motor speech impairment, testified via a touch-pad that Black grabbed her, pulled her into his bedroom, removed clothing, and penetrated her while she repeatedly told him to stop.
T.S. made out-of-court disclosures shortly after the incident: a text to her stepmother (Aug. 5), telling a friend after church (Aug. 7) that “something bad happened,” and telling her parents when she visited them (Aug. 9); police report filed Aug. 15 after discovery of depleted settlement funds.
Defense theory in opening argued T.S. had a motive to fabricate because her settlement funds were missing; defense witnesses (mother, brothers) testified they heard or saw nothing unusual on the date.
At trial the state introduced prior consistent statements, a text message, and medical records (no objection to records); jury convicted on rape and kidnapping, acquitted on gross sexual imposition; convictions and sentences affirmed on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Admission of prior consistent statements (Evid.R. 801(D)(1)(b))	Statements were admissible to rebut defense suggestion of recent fabrication/motive to lie.	Statements (friend, parents, text) were hearsay offered only to bolster T.S.’s testimony and thus inadmissible.	Admitted properly: defense raised motive to fabricate in opening; statements predated the motive (missing funds); admission not plain error if improper.
Admission of medical records	Medical records admissible (and were cumulative) and did not prejudice defendant.	Medical-record notation repeating T.S.’s out-of-court statement was hearsay.	No plain error; records were cumulative and were also admitted under medical-treatment hearsay exception per concurrence.
Ineffective assistance for failure to object to hearsay	Failure to object to hearsay statements and records prejudiced defense.	Counsel’s failure to object was tactical; objections would have been meritless, so no deficient performance or prejudice.	Counsel not ineffective: objections lacked merit and no reasonable probability of different outcome.
Manifest-weight challenge to convictions	N/A (State argued testimony and corroboration supported verdict)	Convictions against manifest weight: no physical evidence; family testimony undermined victim’s credibility.	Verdict not against manifest weight: victim’s credible testimony (supported by contemporaneous disclosures) sufficient; no miscarriage of justice.

State v. DeMarco, 31 Ohio St.3d 191 (1987) (discussing hearsay rule and general inadmissibility absent an exception)
State v. Long, 53 Ohio St.2d 91 (1978) (plain-error standard and caution in noticing unpreserved errors)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (standard for manifest-weight review)
State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172 (1983) (framework for weighing evidence and granting a new trial)
Motorists Mut. Ins. Co. v. Vance, 21 Ohio App.3d 205 (1985) (explains purpose of admitting prior consistent statements to rebut charges of recent fabrication)