State v. Johnson, 2018 Ohio 4131

Victim Jydale Keith was shot multiple times on March 30, 2016; his car crashed into a ravine and his body was found two days later. Autopsy showed close-range .40-caliber gunshot wounds consistent with a passenger shooting the driver.
Surveillance from a nearby market and a Metro bus captured Jeremy Johnson leaning into the driver’s side and his codefendant Cordero Lane leaning into the passenger side; three gunshots are heard and both fled the scene.
Investigators recovered .40-caliber casings and a bullet consistent with the same gun; similar ammunition and casings were later found in Lane’s curbside trash along with an empty .40-caliber box.
Johnson admitted to police he had an altercation with the victim that night and that he stood on the driver’s side and fought with the victim; he also had a prior felony drug conviction.
Johnson was tried and convicted of murder (R.C. 2903.02(A)) as an accomplice and of having weapons while under a disability (R.C. 2923.13(A)(3)). He appealed, raising three assignments of error.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Johnson)	Held
Admissibility of other-acts (drug activity, trash items, prior incarceration)	Evidence showed context, relationship, and was inextricably interwoven with the charged offenses; admissible under Evid.R. 404(B) and not unfairly prejudicial	Admission was improper and prejudicial; limiting instructions should have been given after each witness and in final charge	Trial court did not abuse discretion; evidence admissible for setting, identity, and relationship; any errors harmless and no plain error in limiting-instruction omission
Sufficiency of evidence / Crim.R. 29 (felony-murder and weapons-under-disability)	Video, bus driver testimony, physical evidence, and Johnson’s admissions permitted reasonable jurors to infer aiding-and-abetting and constructive possession while under disability	State relied on stacked inferences; insufficient to prove Johnson aided Lane and that Johnson was constructively in possession under a disability	Evidence sufficient: accomplice liability proven by presence, conduct, and video; Johnson’s prior felony supports weapons-under-disability conviction via constructive possession
Manifest weight of the evidence	Credible, corroborated evidence supported convictions; credibility and weight are for the jury	Convictions against manifest weight; state evidence not credible	Convictions were not against manifest weight; jury did not lose its way

State v. Shedrick, 61 Ohio St.3d 331 (1991) (Evid.R. 404(B) permits other-acts to prove motive, intent, identity, etc.)
State v. Coleman, 45 Ohio St.3d 298 (1989) (Evid.R. 404(B) must be strictly construed against admissibility)
State v. Wickline, 50 Ohio St.3d 114 (1990) (other-acts evidence may be admissible when necessary to give a complete picture)
State v. Garner, 74 Ohio St.3d 49 (1995) (courts presume juries follow limiting and cautionary instructions)
State v. Perez, 124 Ohio St.3d 122 (2009) (failure to request limiting instruction waives claim on appeal absent indication jury improperly used other-acts evidence)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (standard for manifest-weight review)