State v. Higgins, 105 N.E.3d 665

Tommy W. Higgins was indicted (Sept. 2014) on multiple drug and related charges; all counts were tried as fifth-degree felonies after an oral amendment. A bag of individually wrapped heroin, methadone, and oxycodone was recovered from his wife during a strip search; a scale resembling a lighter was found in the home.
Prior investigations and controlled buys tied Higgins to heroin trafficking at the residence; a witness (Richerson) testified she observed drug sales and that Higgins and his wife handled drugs and money, and Higgins weighed drugs in the kitchen.
Higgins initially proceeded pro se, then accepted stand-by counsel right after jury selection in the first trial; counsel moved for mistrial (granted) to file a suppression motion, leading to a second trial where Higgins repeatedly sought to represent himself but the court denied renewed requests.
At the close of evidence the court granted a Crim.R. 29 motion as to one count; the jury convicted Higgins of the remaining counts and found no forfeiture; Higgins appealed pro se raising six assignments of error.
The appellate court affirmed the convictions, rejected Higgins’ challenges to sufficiency, jury instruction omission, denial of self-representation, admission of other-acts testimony, sentencing, and ineffective assistance claims, but remanded for a nunc pro tunc entry to correct clerical errors in the judgment entries.

Issue	Higgins' Argument	State's Argument	Held
Sufficiency / Crim.R. 29 (possession & amount)	State failed to prove Higgins possessed the drugs found on his wife or that amounts supported felony degree	Evidence showed Higgins handed drugs to wife, prior trafficking at home, and witnesses tying him to sales; amounts were reduced to fifth-degree felonies	Denied reversal; evidence sufficient and counts were properly treated as fifth-degree felonies; remand to correct clerical errors
Joint possession jury instruction omission	Omission of the word "together" in joint-possession instruction was plain error that likely misled jury	Omission was not shown to be obvious error or outcome-determinative given the evidence	Overruled; no plain error shown
Right to self-representation	Court failed to inquire into or honor Higgins’ requests to proceed pro se for second trial	Higgins had previously waived pro se by accepting counsel mid-trial and the requests were untimely/equivocal and manipulative	Overruled; court permissibly denied repeated/untimely requests to reassert pro se representation
Admission of officer testimony (other-acts)	Officer’s testimony about Higgins’ prior statements (threat and admissions) was inadmissible 404(B) evidence	Testimony admissible for intent/knowledge; limiting instruction given; any error harmless given other evidence	Overruled; admission not reversible error and harmless if erroneous

State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (standard for sufficiency review)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (benchmark for ineffective assistance—performance and prejudice test)
State v. Bonnell, 140 Ohio St.3d 209 (clerical errors at sentencing can be corrected by nunc pro tunc)
State v. Marcum, 146 Ohio St.3d 516 (standard for appellate review of felony sentences)
State v. Reynolds, 80 Ohio St.3d 670 (Strickland application in Ohio)
State v. Morris, 141 Ohio St.3d 399 (review of erroneous admission of evidence under Evid.R. 404(B))
State v. Williams, 134 Ohio St.3d 521 (framework for admissibility of other acts evidence)
State v. Dean, 127 Ohio St.3d 140 (denial of reasserted self-representation where request is manipulative or untimely)
State v. Neyland, 139 Ohio St.3d 353 (timeliness and unequivocality of self-representation requests)