State v. Grissom, 2014 Ohio 857

Grissom was indicted on felonious assault, discharging a firearm on or near a prohibited premises, having a weapon under disability, and two firearm specifications.
Trial evidence showed a confrontation at a Speedway, where Grissom threatened to shoot Sammons after Sammons bumped into him with a store door.
Grissom followed Sammons’ Jeep, a gunshot was fired from the Expedition, damaging Sammons’s Jeep; Grissom was in the Expedition’s driver seat.
Johnson, a passenger, testified Grissom returned saying “Dude just bumped me” and that others tried to calm him; Johnson’s statements about the shooter varied.
Grissom was under a firearm disability at the time of the shooting.
The jury was instructed on principal or aider-and-abettor liability and given a flight instruction; Grissom was convicted on all counts and sentenced to run concurrently or sequentially as stated.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency/weight of the felonious assault and related convictions	Grissom argues insufficiency and weight undermine convictions.	Grissom contends evidence fails to prove shooter identity or accomplice liability.	Convictions upheld; evidence supports shooter or accomplice liability and weight not against justice.
Flight instruction	Flight evidence warrants instruction to the jury as indicating consciousness of guilt.	No flight evidence justifies a flight instruction.	Flight instruction proper; record supported flight as a possible indicator of guilt.
Merger of weapons under disability with felonious assault	Disability weapon offense should merge with felonious assault under allied-offense rules.	No merger; separate animus as to each offense.	No merger; weapon-under-disability and felonious assault not allied due to distinct animus and conduct.

State v. Wilson, 2009-Ohio-525 (2d Dist. Montgomery No. 22581 (2009-Ohio-525)) (sufficiency review and weight considerations)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 678 N.E.2d 541 (Ohio 1997) (standard for sufficiency of evidence; beyond a reasonable doubt)
State v. Dennis, 79 Ohio St.3d 421, 683 N.E.2d 1096 (Ohio 1997) (direct vs. circumstantial evidence; standard for review)
State v. Johnson, 128 Ohio St.3d 153, 942 N.E.2d 1061 (2010) (two-part framework for merger of allied offenses)
State v. Fairman, 2011-Ohio-6489 (2d Dist. Montgomery No. 24299) (merger consideration for weapons under disability with felonious assault)
State v. Lozada, 2011-Ohio-823 (8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 94902) (flight evidence and admissibility in certain contexts)
State v. Fairman, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 24999, 2011-Ohio-6489 (2011) (animus analysis for merger of offenses)
United States v. Dillon, 870 F.2d 1125 (6th Cir. 1989) (flight-related inferences in criminal instructions)