State v. Howard, 2025 Ohio 999

Joseph Howard was convicted in Toledo Municipal Court for menacing in violation of R.C. 2903.22(A)(1), a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
The conviction arose from an incident on January 10, 2024, involving Howard threatening his mother (the victim) after an argument escalated.
During the incident, Howard told his mother he would "beat her and give her a reason to call the police" following a dispute about noise and the treatment of his dog.
Police responded and Howard was charged with domestic violence, menacing, and failure to disclose; the latter charge was dismissed at trial due to the charging officer's absence.
The court acquitted Howard on the domestic violence charge but convicted him of menacing, finding the threat credible given the context and prior incidents.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for menacing	Howard did not credibly threaten, no real fear shown	Victim feared harm due to threat and past behavior	Evidence was sufficient; conviction affirmed
Manifest weight of the evidence	Verdict was against the weight; credibility lacking	Trial court observed witness, found testimony credible	Not an exceptional case; deference to trial court, affirmed
Consistency with domestic violence acquittal	Menacing guilty finding inconsistent with DV acquittal	Menacing threshold met even if DV acquittal	Menacing conviction stands irrespective of DV acquittal
Clarity of trial court’s oral pronouncements vs judgment	Inconsistent oral pronouncement = error	Judgment entry governs, not oral comments	Judgment entry controls; any oral error is harmless

State v. Harvey, 2023-Ohio-4454 (subjective belief of harm required to find menacing)
State v. McConnaughey, 2021-Ohio-3320 (victim's belief in possibility of harm is sufficient for menacing)
In re P.T., 2013-Ohio-3881 (statute covers more than overt threats; broader spectrum of conduct)
State v. Scott, 2009-Ohio-4961 (menacing includes threats of future harm)