State v. Johnson, 2017 Ohio 1251

Appellant Justin Lamar Johnson was indicted on felonious assault, discharging a firearm on or near prohibited premises (jury trial), and having a weapon while under disability (bench trial). The jury acquitted on the two jury-tried counts; the court convicted on the weapons-under-disability count and sentenced Johnson to 24 months.
Incident facts: at a December 23, 2015 party, a handgun circulated; later an alley confrontation occurred where witnesses testified Johnson shot Julius Jones; Jones and Shelby Bell identified Johnson as the shooter. Johnson offered a different account at trial, claiming he fled after Jones pointed a gun and saw someone else shoot.
The defense requested bifurcation so the weapons-under-disability count (which would reveal prior felony drug convictions) would be tried to the court to keep prior convictions from the jury; counsel discussed this in open court but no written jury-waiver signed by Johnson was placed on the record.
The State conceded the trial court failed to obtain the statutory written and in-court waiver required by R.C. 2945.05 and Crim. R. 23(A) before trying count three to the court.
The appellate court reversed and remanded for a new trial on the weapons-under-disability count because the waiver requirement was not satisfied; it nevertheless found the evidence sufficient to support the conviction if retried.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Johnson)	Held
Whether a valid jury waiver was obtained for the weapons-under-disability count	Trial court properly accepted bifurcation request and tried count to the court	No written waiver and no personal in-court acknowledgement by Johnson as required by statute and rule	Reversed and remanded — waiver invalid; new trial required
Whether evidence was sufficient to support the weapons-under-disability conviction	Witness testimony and prior felony drug conviction prove the elements	Insufficient / weight arguments claiming misidentification and alternative shooter	Sufficiency: Overruled — evidence was sufficient; manifest-weight claim rendered moot by remand

State v. Lomax, 872 N.E.2d 279 (Ohio 2007) (waiver must be in writing and there must be some in-court acknowledgment by the defendant)
State v. Jenks, 574 N.E.2d 492 (Ohio 1991) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
State v. Thompkins, 678 N.E.2d 541 (Ohio 1997) (distinguishing sufficiency and manifest-weight grounds for retrial under double jeopardy)
Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 31 (U.S. 1982) (double jeopardy considerations regarding retrial after reversal)