State v. Johnson, 2011 Ohio 1919

Johnson was convicted of murder and child endangering after a trial in which expert testimony linked Anthony Johnson, Jr. to non-accidental injuries; the State presented evidence of blunt-force trauma and syringes of trauma not consistent with a fall.
The predicate for felony murder was the defendant’s alleged torture or cruel abuse of a child under 18; Anthony died from head and body injuries while under Johnson’s care.
The defense sought involuntary manslaughter instructions; the court granted murder instruction but denied involuntary manslaughter instruction.
The jury found Johnson guilty of murder and two counts of child endangerment; the court merged the two child endangerment counts and sentenced Johnson to 33 years to life, with eight years on one count.
On appeal, Johnson challenges sufficiency, weight of the evidence, jury instructions, admissibility of prior convictions, and the merger of offenses at sentencing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency and weight of the murder conviction	Johnson contends the evidence fails to prove murder beyond a reasonable doubt	Johnson asserts the evidence is insufficient and against the weight of the evidence	Conviction supported by both sufficiency and weight of the evidence
Right to jury instruction on involuntary manslaughter	State argues no reasonable jury could convict on involuntary manslaughter given the evidence	Johnson sought an instruction on involuntary manslaughter	No abuse of discretion; instruction not warranted based on evidence
Admission of prior convictions and related prejudice	State could introduce prior conviction evidence beyond stipulated admission	Stipulation should have limited evidence; prior conviction prejudicial	Harmless error; evidence supported by substantial other evidence
Allied offenses and merger at sentencing	Convictions for murder and child endangering should not merge	There were multiple offenses arising from same conduct	Murder and child endangering should have merged; remanded for resentencing under Johnson v. Ohio

State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (determines standard for sufficiency; appellate review of evidence)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (1991) (establishes standard for weighing evidence on appeal)
State v. Mitts, 81 Ohio St.3d 223 (1998) (addresses lesser included offenses and instructions)
State v. Botta, 27 Ohio St.2d 196 (1971) (allied offenses analysis under merger)
State v. Rance, 85 Ohio St.3d 632 (1999) (rejection of element-based comparison for allied-offense merger)