State v. Dover, 2014 Ohio 2303

Dixon withdrew about $1,750 cash for Liedertafel’s summerfest; Dover and two confederates were in the bank when she was robbed at gunpoint.
Becraft took Dixon’s purse; Dozier was present; the purse contents and Dixon’s cell phone were not recovered.
Sample witnessed the suspects flee and saw the van later abandoned near the Kroger; the box of quarters remained with Dixon’s purse.
Dover was convicted of Aggravated Robbery with a firearm specification, acquitted of Having a Weapon While Under Disability counts, and sentenced to 14 years total.
State appeals, arguing manifest weight of the evidence, failure to give a Theft lesser-included instruction, and mis-imposition of the maximum sentence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the firearm finding is against the manifest weight	Dover contends weight issues due to lack of corroborating gun evidence	Dixon’s testimony is insufficient to prove use of a gun beyond reasonable doubt	Not against the manifest weight; the jury crediting Dixon’s testimony was permissible
Whether the court should have given a Theft instruction	Dover requested Theft instruction as lesser included	Evidence did not support Theft as a lesser offense	Court did not abuse discretion; Theft instruction not warranted
Whether the maximum sentence was properly imposed	Maximizing sentence was improper	Court’s reasoning supported maximum term	No error in imposing maximum sentence under review standards

State v. Rodeffer, 2013-Ohio-5759 (2d Dist. 2013) (review standard for sentencing under evolving case law)
State v. Johnson, 36 Ohio St.3d 224 (1988) (plain-error vs. conventional error standard for jury instructions)
State v. Garcia, 2014-Ohio-1538 (2d Dist. Greene No. 2013-CA-51) (skeletal discussion of sentencing standards and review in second district)