State v. Houdeshell, 2018 Ohio 5217

On March 31, 2016, two-year-old B.F. was seen and discharged from a hospital at 5:41 p.m. for a leg injury; later that evening he was left in the sole custody of Brent R. Houdeshell, became unresponsive, and died after being transported to the hospital.
Autopsy revealed multiple, severe injuries: basilar-skull fracture with brain contusion, displaced spiral femur fracture, liver lacerations with significant intra-abdominal bleeding, lung and thymus bruising, and numerous contusions across face, chest, and extremities.
County grand jury indicted Houdeshell for murder (R.C. 2903.02(B)), endangering children (R.C. 2919.22(B)(1)), and tampering with evidence; jury convicted on all counts after a January 2018 trial.
The trial court merged Counts One and Two for sentencing and imposed an aggregate sentence of life with parole eligibility after 17 years.
On appeal, Houdeshell challenged (1) denial of a mistrial after a witness mentioned he intended to buy cocaine, and (2) sufficiency and manifest weight of the evidence supporting murder and endangering-children convictions (he did not challenge the tampering conviction).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Houdeshell)	Held
Sufficiency: whether evidence proved Houdeshell abused B.F. causing death	Medical and circumstantial evidence (timing of injuries, severity and pattern inconsistent with crib fall, expert testimony) proves recklessness/abuse and proximate cause of death	State presented no direct evidence of abuse; injuries could be accidental or from earlier events	Conviction affirmed: evidence (including circumstantial and expert testimony) was sufficient to support convictions
Manifest weight: whether verdicts are against the manifest weight of the evidence	Jury reasonably credited medical experts and other evidence showing multiple inflicted injuries and inconsistent histories	The accidental-fall theory and Houdeshell’s consistent statements are weightier; lack of motive and no intoxication	Conviction affirmed: not an exceptional case to overturn verdicts; jury credibility determinations upheld
Mistrial motion for witness testimony about intent to buy drugs	Testimony was isolated, trial court promptly struck it and gave curative instruction; any error harmless given overwhelming evidence	Testimony was prejudicial and violated court's prior instruction, requiring mistrial	Denial of mistrial affirmed: curative instruction and strength of evidence made the remark harmless

State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (sets out distinction between sufficiency and manifest-weight standards)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (standard for sufficiency review in criminal cases)
State v. Heinish, 50 Ohio St.3d 231 (circumstantial evidence can sustain conviction)
State v. DeHass, 10 Ohio St.2d 230 (credibility and weight are for the trier of fact)
State v. Awan, 22 Ohio St.3d 120 (appellate court will not substitute its judgment for finder of fact on credibility)
State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172 (articulates manifest-weight test language)
Pang v. Minch, 53 Ohio St.3d 186 (presumption that juries follow curative instructions)
State v. Trimble, 122 Ohio St.3d 297 (brief, isolated prejudicial remarks followed by curative instruction may be harmless)
State v. Adams, 62 Ohio St.2d 151 (abuse-of-discretion standard for appellate review of trial-court rulings)