State v. High, 2017 Ohio 1242

On December 9, 2012, Christopher High (Appellant) entered Rockford Estep’s home after showing a bag of marijuana at the window; two masked accomplices also entered.
While inside, High struck Estep repeatedly with a firearm, demanded and took $700, and the occupants ransacked the home; Estep escaped and sustained injuries.
A neighbor recorded the van’s plate; police found the abandoned van and a repair invoice listing High’s name.
A Stark County jury convicted High of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and felonious assault, each with a firearm specification.
Trial court imposed an aggregate 13-year prison term (merging firearm specifications but ordering some counts consecutive).
On appeal the Fifth District affirmed convictions, but (1) vacated consecutive-sentence findings for lack of statutory findings and remanded for resentencing, and (2) held felonious assault must merge with aggravated robbery (vacating that part of the sentence).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency/manifest weight of evidence to support convictions	Evidence (victim ID, van receipt, events) supports convictions	Convictions were against manifest weight/insufficient	Convictions affirmed; evidence sufficient and not against manifest weight
Consecutive sentences — whether court made required R.C. 2929.14(C)(4) findings	Trial court articulated reasons at sentencing hearing justifying consecutive terms	Appellant argued statutory findings were not made in judgment entry/hearing	Reversed on consecutive-sentence issue; remanded for resentencing because required statutory findings were not made in the entry
Allied-offense merger — whether felonious assault merges with aggravated robbery/burglary	State maintained offenses did not merge because conduct/harms were distinct	Appellant argued offenses are allied and must merge	Court held aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery may be separately sentenced; felonious assault merges with aggravated robbery (vacated that portion of sentence)
Firearm specifications — whether properly imposed/merged	State sought separate specifications and consecutive firearm terms	Appellant challenged sentencing on specifications	Trial court merged firearm specifications in the judgment entry; affirmed merger but remanded for resentencing on consecutive findings

State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (standard for manifest-weight review)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (1991) (standard for sufficiency review)
State v. Marcum, 146 Ohio St.3d 516 (2016) (appellate review of felony sentences under R.C. 2953.08)
State v. Bonnell, 140 Ohio St.3d 209 (2014) (requirement that R.C. 2929.14(C)(4) findings appear in judgment entry and hearing)
State v. Ruff, 143 Ohio St.3d 114 (2015) (framework for allied-offense analysis: conduct, animus, import)
State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172 (1983) (appellate court acts as thirteenth juror in weight-of-evidence review)