State v. Dewees, 111 N.E.3d 334

DeWees was indicted for Attempted Rape (2nd°) and Kidnapping (1st°) after an August 5, 2016 incident on a public trail in Newton Falls, Ohio.
Victim A.G.L. testified that DeWees grabbed her, dragged her up an embankment out of view of the trail, pushed her to the ground, punched her, began removing her clothes, and she escaped; she immediately called 911.
Physical evidence: visible injuries on A.G.L.; clothing (tank top, underwear, hair tie) found in DeWees’ cooler the next day; blood on the clothing; mixed male/female DNA with a male Y-STR profile that could not exclude DeWees.
DeWees admitted being at the scene and striking A.G.L. but claimed a different sequence (he found her already undressed, there was a brief altercation, then she left); he said he later collected her clothes.
Jury convicted on both counts; trial court sentenced DeWees to concurrent terms (aggregate 10 years), and the trial court declined to merge the convictions. DeWees appealed, raising allied-offenses/merger and manifest-weight challenges.

Issue	State's Argument	DeWees' Argument	Held
Whether Kidnapping and Attempted Rape are allied offenses that must merge under R.C. 2941.25	Conduct shows separate animus: DeWees moved/secretly confined the victim away from the public trail to avoid detection, supporting distinct kidnapping conviction	Movement was incidental to the sexual assault; no separate animus or substantial asportation, so convictions should merge	Affirmed: convictions did not merge — movement to a secretive location and forceful restraint demonstrated separate conduct/animus supporting both convictions
Whether convictions are against the manifest weight of the evidence	Victim’s testimony, injuries, 911 call, physical evidence and DNA corroborate the State’s version and are more persuasive	Victim was an alcoholic and had inconsistencies; her testimony is unreliable, so the jury should have found for DeWees	Affirmed: the court found the jury did not lose its way; victim’s account and corroborating evidence were more credible

State v. Ruff, 143 Ohio St.3d 114 (Ohio 2015) (sets three-part test for allied offenses: conduct, animus, import)
State v. Logan, 60 Ohio St.2d 126 (Ohio 1979) (kidnapping and forcible rape: secret confinement or substantial asportation can show separate animus)
State v. Williams, 134 Ohio St.3d 482 (Ohio 2012) (appellate review of R.C. 2941.25 merger determinations is de novo)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Ohio 1997) (standard for weighing manifest weight of the evidence)
State v. Wilson, 113 Ohio St.3d 382 (Ohio 2007) (reviewing weight-of-evidence claims asks which side’s evidence is more persuasive)