State v. Cook, 2012 Ohio 4250

Cook and Sammons were in a restaurant, then had a single-car rollover accident; Sammons gave Cook the keys to drive home.
Both were transported to a hospital; Cook had a blood alcohol content of .189, Sammons .104.
Cook was charged with aggravated vehicular assault, two OVI counts, and failure to control; he was convicted of aggravated vehicular assault and the two OVI counts, and had a separate conviction for failure to control.
The trial court sentenced Cook to three years for aggravated vehicular assault and imposed costs, but did not waive costs due to indigency.
On appeal, the court remanded for Cook to seek a waiver of court costs; the principal dispute involved jury instructions on causation and the imposition of costs.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Proximate cause instruction accuracy	Cook argues proximate cause term was misused	State contends instruction was correct	No reversible error; instruction aligned with governing law.
Imposition of court costs without indigent waiver opportunity	Cook contends costs imposed without being able to request waiver	State concedes error in failure to inform of cost obligation	Error sustained; remand to allow waiver request.

Sharp v. Norfolk & Western Railway Co., 72 Ohio St.3d 307 (1995) (correct and complete jury instructions required; de novo review standard)
Ohio Bell Tel. Co. v. Pub. Util. Comm., 64 Ohio St.3d 145 (1992) (de novo review for questions of law; independent review)
State v. Joseph, 125 Ohio St.3d 76 (2010) (requires oral notification of cost obligation for indigency waiver rights)
State v. Stallworth, 2011-Ohio-4492 (9th Dist.) (remedial approach for costs—waiver procedure on remand)
State v. Miller, 2012-Ohio-1263 (9th Dist.) (remand for indigency waiver regarding costs)