State v. Cotton, 2017 Ohio 5807

On April 25, 2014, victim Michael Ewart returned to his Euclid apartment building and encountered three armed men; two were later identified as Sylvester Cotton and Michael Brooks.
The men demanded Ewart’s wallet; the encounter occurred at or near the building entrance/back door/basement area, but testimony about their precise location was unclear.
Cotton and Brooks were tried jointly; juries convicted both on multiple counts, including aggravated burglary; Cotton received a 78-year sentence.
On direct appeal this court affirmed most convictions for Cotton but later, in Brooks’s appeal, held the evidence was insufficient to support aggravated burglary because the record did not clearly show the theft occurred inside the building.
Cotton successfully sought reopening of his appeal, arguing appellate counsel was ineffective for not challenging the aggravated burglary conviction.
The court concluded the aggravated burglary conviction against Cotton was unsupported by sufficient evidence, found appellate counsel ineffective for failing to raise the sufficiency claim, vacated that conviction, and remanded for amended judgment and resentencing with that count deleted.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for aggravated burglary (whether theft occurred in an occupied structure or portion)	State: jury could reasonably infer the theft occurred in the building or doorway from victim’s testimony and inferences	Cotton: testimony was minimal/confusing and did not establish the theft happened inside the building	Court: Evidence insufficient to sustain aggravated burglary; conviction vacated
Ineffective assistance of appellate counsel for not raising sufficiency of aggravated burglary	State: counsel’s omissions did not prejudice outcome (implicit)	Cotton: appellate counsel was deficient and there was a reasonable probability the sufficiency challenge would have succeeded	Court: Appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the sufficiency claim; relief granted (reopening, vacatur, remand)

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishes two-prong ineffective-assistance standard)
State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136 (Ohio adoption of Strickland framework)
State v. Sheppard, 91 Ohio St.3d 329 (standard for ineffective assistance of appellate counsel)
State v. Were, 120 Ohio St.3d 85 (appellate counsel Strickland analysis applied)
Cavazos v. Smith, 565 U.S. 1 (Jackson deference to jury inferences when record supports conflicting inferences)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency review)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (Ohio standard for sufficiency of the evidence)