State v. Ferguson, 236 N.E.3d 824

Kevin Ferguson was convicted of gross sexual imposition after an incident on May 18, 2020, involving his cousin’s girlfriend, A.W., at his apartment.
A.W. testified that while sleeping at Ferguson's apartment, she awoke to find Ferguson's hand in her vagina; Ferguson claimed he was adjusting a blanket.
A.W. called police, who found her distraught; Ferguson was indicted for two counts of gross sexual imposition but found guilty only on one.
Ferguson was sentenced to 18 months in prison and classified as a Tier I sex offender.
On appeal, Ferguson challenged the conviction on the grounds of improper statements to the jury regarding burdens of proof and the manifest weight of the evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Trial court's statements on burden of proof	No prejudice—jury was correctly instructed on reasonable doubt standard	Court misstated grand jury burden during voir dire, prejudicing Ferguson and negating presumption of innocence	No plain error; accurate instructions at trial cured any misstatement
Manifest weight of the evidence	A.W.'s testimony was credible and consistent on key facts; conviction supported	Conviction relied solely on inconsistent testimony from A.W.; jury lost its way	Testimony inconsistencies minor and immaterial; jury verdict was not against manifest weight

State v. Adams, 144 Ohio St.3d 429 (plain error review requires outcome would clearly be otherwise but for error)
Maryland v. Pringle, 540 U.S. 366 (probable cause standard based on totality of circumstances, not precise quantification)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (defines manifest weight standard in Ohio)