State v. Freeders, 2011 Ohio 4871

Defendant Cody Freeders, accompanied by David Rupp, entered Jeffrey Todd's residence armed with a handgun and assaulted Todd.
Todd's roommate called police; gun was found under the front seat and a baseball bat was seen in the car.
Defendant was indicted on two counts of aggravated burglary (A)(1) and (A)(2), one count of felonious assault, and one count of having weapons under disability, with firearm specifications on the burglary and assault counts.
Defendant pled guilty to weapons under disability; trial court convicted on the remaining charges and imposed concurrent five-year terms, plus three-year terms for firearm specifications, totaling eight years.
On appeal, Anders brief was filed; the appellate court identified a non-frivolous issue about whether the two aggravated burglary convictions must merge under R.C. 2941.25 after Johnson v. Ohio Supreme Court was decided, and remanded for merits briefing.
The court held that the two aggravated burglary convictions are allied offenses of similar import and must be merged unless exceptions under R.C. 2941.25(B) apply, leading to reversal and remand for a new sentencing hearing to address merger.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Are the two aggravated burglary convictions allied offenses subject to merger?	State concedes allied offenses; merger required unless separate animus.	Freeders argues potential separate animus prevents merger or permits separate convictions.	Yes; they are allied offenses and must merge; remanded for merger determination.

State v. Brown, 119 Ohio St.3d 447 (2008-Ohio-4569) (defined allied offenses and merger principles under 2941.25)
State v. Johnson, 128 Ohio St.3d 153 (2010-Ohio-6314) (new test for allied offenses: consider conduct and determine if merger applies)
State v. Rance, 85 Ohio St.3d 632 (1999) (prior standard for allied offenses before Johnson)
State v. Hodge, 124 Ohio St.3d 319 (2010-Ohio-2) (importance of proper merger determining sentencing; merited new hearing)