State v. Daniels, 2011 Ohio 4899

Hagerty, with her 3-year-old and 15-year-old GC, checked into a Strasburg hotel on July 27, 2009.
GC is Hagerty's foster/adopted daughter; GC was told she was 15.
Appellant, while at the hotel pool, engaged with GC, kissing, touching, and sexual contact with GC in the hot tub.
Hotel staff observed improper conduct and directed them to leave before the 11:00 p.m. closing time.
GC later testified about sexual activity in appellant’s hotel room; authorities investigated and GC testified at trial.
Appellant was convicted at bench trial of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and sexual imposition.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of corroboration for sexual imposition	Corroboration required by R.C. 2907.06(B) was missing	Corroboration existed; slight corroboration suffices	Sufficient corroboration found; error overruled
Merger of unlawful sexual conduct and sexual imposition	Convictions should merge as allied offenses	Johnson test shows not allied offenses	Not allied; no merger required
Manifest weight of the evidence	Victim’s grand jury falsehood and trial revisions undermine conviction	Trial credibility supported; corroboration adequate	Not against the manifest weight; credibility and testimony sufficient
Ineffective assistance for failure to request merger	Counsel should have preserved merger issue	No meritorious merger issue; counsel effective	No ineffective assistance; no prejudice from failure to object

State v. Economo, 76 Ohio St.3d 56 (Ohio 1996) (corroboration suffices to meet R.C. 2907.06(B))
State v. Johnson, 128 Ohio St.3d 153 (Ohio 2010) (Johnson test for allied offenses of similar import)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Ohio 1997) (thirteenth juror standard for manifest weight review)
State v. Lemmons, 2011-Ohio-3322 (Delaware App. 2011) (plain error standard for failure to raise merger)
State v. Jones, 2010-Ohio-2243 (Ohio) (non-allied offenses not merged when separate acts or animus)