State v. Hayes, 2013 Ohio 2429

Hayes was convicted in Summit County Court of Common Pleas after SWAT served a search warrant at 582 Talbot Avenue on Oct. 7, 2010; he fired three times from the apartment and then discarded the gun.
SWAT announced themselves multiple times; Hayes claimed no announcement and thought a robbery was occurring.
Three felonious assault counts (with firearm specifications) plus counts for discharging a firearm at habitation, weapons under disability, and heroin possession were charged; the court merged a firearm-specification and sentenced 18 years.
Trial included ballistic analysis, shell casings, bullet trajectories, gunshot residue testing, and multiple witness testimonies and interviews.
Hayes appealed asserting manifest-weight error, prejudicial admission of an interrogation video, and improper allied-offense merger; the court affirmed all convictions.
The appellate court reaffirms the judgments and addresses each assigned error.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Felonious assault weight of evidence	Hayes argues weight favors acquittal	State argues evidence supports convictions	Weight challenge failed; convictions affirmed
Admission of interrogation video	Video prejudicial and improper	Court did not abuse discretion; probative value outweighs	No reversible error; video admission not prejudicial enough to merit reversal
Allied-offense merger for felonious assault counts	Three victims imply same conduct; should merge	Three shots in three directions show separate animus	Counts not merged; separate animus supported multiple convictions

State v. Otten, 33 Ohio App.3d 339 (9th Dist.1986) (weights and credibility of testimony governing manifest weight review)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (standard for manifest weight review; thirteenth juror doctrine)
State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172 (1st Dist.1983) (exceptional case; rebalance of weights for new trial)
State v. Johnson, 128 Ohio St.3d 153 (2010) (two-step allied offenses test (same conduct and same state of mind))
State v. Hodges, 2013-Ohio-1195 (1st Dist.2013) (discharges of multiple gunshots; same conduct under allied offenses)
State v. McClendon, 2011-Ohio-5067 (2d Dist.2011) (multiple convictions for same conduct with separate victims or animus)
State v. Chaney, 2012-Ohio-4934 (8th Dist.2012) (separate animus when different victims or distinct impacts)
State v. Tapscott, 2012-Ohio-4213 (7th Dist.2012) (animus analysis aids merger decisions)
State v. Franklin, 97 Ohio St.3d 1 (2002) (crimes of dissimilar import when multiple victims affected)
State v. Jones, 18 Ohio St.3d 116 (1985) (reaffirms dissimilar import concept for multiple harms)