State v. Deanda, 17 N.E.3d 1232

Deanda was convicted of felonious assault after stabbing Swartz seven times during a garage-area confrontation on Sept. 19, 2009; Swartz sustained neck and back injuries and was treated at multiple hospitals.
The State charged Deanda with attempted murder; trial occurred May 2010; jury convicted him of felonious assault as a lesser included offense of attempted murder.
On remand from the Ohio Supreme Court, the Third District reviews five assignments of error challenging hearsay rulings, exclusion of testimony, prosecutorial conduct, instruction on lesser-included offenses, and weight of the evidence.
The court held a trial and sentencing hearing; the final verdict was felonious assault (a second-degree felony) with a seven-year prison term.
The court ultimately affirms the conviction and rejects each assignment of error as without reversible error.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether hearsay testimony admitted at trial was reversible error.	Deanda argues admissible hearsay prejudiced the defense.	Deanda contends multiple hearsay instances were improper.	No reversible error; any prejudice was attritional and harmless.
Whether the exclusion of Joey and Vicki Deanda’s testimony was error.	N/A (State argues admission not essential).	Excluded testimony would have mattered to the issues.	No error; testimony was irrelevant or redundant.
Whether prosecutorial misconduct occurred during rebuttal closing.	Prosecutor injected personal opinions affecting credibility.	Statements were improper but did not prejudice substantial rights.	No reversible prosecutorial misconduct; instructions preserved law.
Whether felonious assault was properly treated as a lesser included offense of attempted murder.	Felonious assault should be a lesser included offense.	The trial court erred in instructions.	R.C. 2903.11 is a lesser included offense; the instruction was correct.
Whether the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence.	Weight should favor conviction given stab wounds and intent.	Evidence weighs against conviction.	Not against the weight of the evidence; evidence supports the verdict.

Rigby v. Lake County, 58 Ohio St.3d 269 (1991) (abuse of discretion standard for evidentiary rulings)
State v. Self, 56 Ohio St.3d 73 (1990) (harmless error analysis for admissible vs. prejudicial testimony)
State v. Melchior, 56 Ohio St.2d 15 (1978) (self-defense may be asserted even if defendant initially provoked the incident)
State v. Carter, 72 Ohio St.3d 545 (1995) (misstatement of law harmless if jury instructions correctly stated law)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (weight of the evidence standard; deferential to jury credibility)