State v. Crawford, 2016 Ohio 7779

Background

Veronica Crawford was indicted for felonious assault after an April 25, 2015 altercation with Adrienne Walker arising from a dispute over payment for cleaning chitterlings; Walker suffered facial injuries and a concussion.
At trial Walker testified Crawford grabbed and slammed her; Crawford testified Walker grabbed money and chitterlings, they tussled, and Walker tripped over a concrete parking barrier.
The prosecutor sought instructions on felonious assault and lesser included offenses; defense requested a negligent-assault instruction and argued accident in closing; the court gave instructions on felonious assault, aggravated assault, assault, reckless assault, and negligent assault.
The jury acquitted Crawford of felonious assault, aggravated assault, and assault, but convicted her of negligent assault (a third-degree misdemeanor).
Crawford was sentenced to 60 days in jail with 30 days suspended and three years probation; she appealed raising four assignments of error: failure to instruct on accident, insufficiency as to deadly weapon, vindictive/illegal sentencing, and ineffective assistance of counsel.
The Eighth District affirmed, rejecting plain-error and invited-error arguments, finding the sentence within statutory limits and counsel’s performance not prejudicial under Strickland.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by not instructing the jury on the defense of accident	State argued no reversible error because general instructions and burden of proof were correct	Crawford argued accident instruction was warranted by her testimony that Walker tripped and that omission denied a complete defense	No plain error — general charge and defense argument sufficed; omission did not affect outcome
Whether there was sufficient evidence the concrete parking barrier was a "deadly weapon" for negligent-assault conviction	State relied on negligent-assault instruction given and evidence of injuries from impact with barrier	Crawford argued curb cannot be a deadly weapon and that acceptance would overbroadly make the ground a weapon	Conviction stands; defendant invited the instruction and cannot now challenge sufficiency under invited-error doctrine
Whether the sentence (60 days, 30 suspended, 3 years probation) was vindictive or exceeded misdemeanor limits	State maintained sentence was within statutory limits and guided by misdemeanor sentencing factors	Crawford claimed sentence was vindictive and effectively penalized her for the jury verdict, exceeding misdemeanor standards	Sentence within statutory maximum; court presumed to have considered R.C. factors; not vindictive or improper
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for not requesting accident instruction and for not objecting to sentence	State argued counsel’s performance not prejudicial because omission did not alter outcome and sentence was proper	Crawford argued counsel’s failures deprived her of effective assistance	Strickland standard not met; no deficiency causing prejudice found; claim denied

Key Cases Cited

State v. Jackson, 92 Ohio St.3d 436 (appellate review waiver/plain-error rule)
State v. Long, 53 Ohio St.2d 91 (plain error standard and caution)
State v. Joy, 74 Ohio St.3d 178 (duty to give relevant and necessary jury instructions)
State v. Nelson, 36 Ohio St.2d 79 (requested correct instruction appropriate to facts must be given)
Feterle v. Huettner, 28 Ohio St.2d 54 (evidence standard to justify giving an instruction)
State v. Poole, 33 Ohio St.2d 18 (accident as denial of unlawful act / mens rea)
State v. Trimble, 122 Ohio St.3d 297 (ineffective assistance; Strickland application in Ohio)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
State v. Calhoun, 86 Ohio St.3d 279 (presumption of competence for licensed attorneys)