State v. Curry, 2020 Ohio 1230

William Curry and Dionte Nelson were in a romantic relationship and Curry had been living with Nelson for a few months; Curry himself referred to Nelson’s apartment as his “home.”
Early morning December 17, 2018, an argument about Nelson’s children escalated into a physical altercation at their shared residence.
Nelson testified Curry poked her face, punched her ear (causing bleeding), wrestled for her phone, then jumped on her and put his knee/whole weight on her head, making it hard to breathe; she sent her son for help and briefly left the house before calling police via a coworker at Taco Bell.
Officer Clark observed blood from Nelson’s ear, disheveled clothing, and neck swelling; on returning to the residence he observed a cut on Curry’s finger; Curry claimed Nelson had bitten his finger and said he acted in self-defense.
After a bench trial Curry was convicted of domestic violence (state elected that charge) and sentenced to 90 days (with credits/suspensions), six months probation, a $150 fine, and a no-contact order.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether there was sufficient evidence that Curry and Nelson were "family or household members" (cohabitation) for R.C. 2919.25(A)	Nelson and other record evidence showed they lived together and were in a relationship, satisfying cohabitation when parties share a residence	Williams requires proof of shared financial/familial responsibilities and consortium; Williams argued this undercuts cohabitation here	Under McGlothan, where parties share the same residence the State need not prove financial/familial responsibilities or consortium; court found cohabitation proven and sufficiency met
Whether the conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence	Testimony of Nelson corroborated by Officer Clark’s observations of injuries supported the court’s credibility findings and conviction	Curry relied on inconsistencies in Nelson’s testimony, the two-hour delay in calling, and his own version (bitten finger, self-defense) to attack credibility	Trial court (as factfinder) credited Nelson and Clark over Curry; appellate court found no manifest miscarriage of justice and affirmed conviction

State v. Jenks, 574 N.E.2d 492 (Ohio 1991) (standard for sufficiency of the evidence review)
State v. Williams, 683 N.E.2d 1126 (Ohio 1997) (defined cohabitation to require shared responsibilities and consortium)
State v. McGlothan, 4 N.E.3d 1021 (Ohio 2014) (clarified that when parties share a residence, the State need not prove shared financial/familial responsibilities and consortium to show cohabitation)
State v. Thompkins, 678 N.E.2d 541 (Ohio 1997) (manifest-weight review standard)
State v. DeHass, 227 N.E.2d 212 (Ohio 1967) (credibility and weight of evidence are for the trier of fact)
State v. Warren, 667 N.E.2d 68 (Ohio App. 1995) (victim testimony corroborated by officer observations can support conviction despite conflicting testimony)