State v. Brewer, 2011 Ohio 2966

Brewer was convicted by jury of two counts of aggravated burglary and a firearm specification was considered but acquitted; the home invasion occurred at Stephanie Keen’s residence on January 18, 2010, where Keen testified two Brewer brothers forcibly entered and Aster Brewer brandished a handgun; Brewer presented defense witnesses who claimed the brothers did not enter Keen’s home and did not see a gun; the jury found guilt on both aggravated burglary counts but acquitted the firearm specification; the trial court merged the allied offenses and sentenced Brewer to seven years on count one (physical harm).
The State elected to proceed to sentencing on the aggravated burglary (physical harm) count after merging allied offenses; the trial court issued a termination entry reflecting a single seven-year sentence.
Brewer timely appealed, challenging the sufficiency and weight of the evidence, and raising an allied-offense issue surrounding the merger and sentencing.
The appellate court upheld the convictions, holding the evidence legally sufficient and not against the manifest weight, and affirming the court’s merger and single-sentence configuration.
The judgment of the trial court was affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence for aggravated burglary	Brewer argues the record shows no trespass or threat.	Brewer contends no entry into Keen’s home and no threat; any threat was by his brother.	Evidence sufficient; entry by force and threat shown by brother’s weapon display supported conviction.
Manifest weight of the evidence supporting the conviction	Evidence weighs heavily against Brewer’s conviction.	Credibility of witnesses favored Brewer’s version.	Not against the weight of the evidence; no miscarriage of justice found.
Allied-offenses and sentencing merger	Two counts were allied; merger and proper election to sentence on one offense.	Unclear handling of merged counts but no error in sentencing.	Correct merger of allied offenses with a single sentence; no error in sentencing.

State v. Hawn, 138 Ohio App.3d 449 (Ohio App. 2000) (sufficiency standard for criminal convictions; rational juror could find guilt)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (Ohio 1991) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence; reasonable doubt)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Ohio 1997) (weight of the evidence; whether the conscience of the reviewing court is shocked)
State v. Damron, Ohio St.3d , 2011-Ohio-2268 (Ohio 2011) (allied offenses; merger and single conviction sentencing)