State v. Greely, 2017 Ohio 4469

Appellant Dashawn Greely pled guilty to multiple felonies from incidents spanning 2013–2015; this appeal concerns offenses against a 2015 victim.
On July 18, 2015, Greely forcibly entered the victim’s home through a first-floor window (aggravated burglary) and later located the sleeping victim upstairs.
Greely covered the victim’s face, then committed vaginal, oral, and anal rape; he then forced the victim into the shower and attempted to wash away DNA evidence.
DNA linked Greely to the assaults; he pled guilty to one count of rape and one count of aggravated burglary (both first-degree felonies) arising from the 2015 victim.
The trial court imposed consecutive sentences (8 years for aggravated burglary, 10 years for rape); Greely appealed arguing the two convictions should have merged for sentencing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether aggravated burglary and rape arising from the July 18, 2015 incident must merge under R.C. 2941.25(B)	State: offenses are distinct because the aggravated burglary and the rape resulted in separate, identifiable harms	Greely: the burglary and rape stem from the same incident and should merge; the court improperly relied on uncharged conduct to distinguish them	Court affirmed: offenses are of dissimilar import and do not merge; consecutive sentences permitted

State v. Ruff, 34 N.E.3d 892 (Ohio 2015) (harm from each offense must be separate and identifiable to avoid merger)
State v. Barnes, 427 N.E.2d 517 (Ohio 1981) (multiple acts of rape may support separate rape convictions)