State v. Johnson, 2020 Ohio 3501

On June 16, 2018, bystander Brian Kratzer found Johnna Johnson lying in a gutter with a roughly 10 cm laceration on the right side of her face; she told him her husband had stabbed her with a beer bottle.
EMTs and hospital staff were told the same; the wound required ten sutures and the ER nurse testified the injury was consistent with a sharp object.
Deputies located Richard Johnson at his home after about 30 minutes of announcements and forced entry (with Johnna's permission to enter); officers observed a blood trail from his house.
At trial Johnna recanted, testifying she fell on rocks while intoxicated; the state introduced her prior oral and written statements and her probation officer’s testimony that Johnna intended to lie because she feared Richard.
The jury convicted Richard of domestic violence (charged as a third-degree felony based on prior domestic-violence convictions); he also pled guilty to violating a protection order. The court imposed 24 months for the domestic-violence conviction consecutive to a six-month sentence for the protection-order violation.
Richard appealed raising four assignments of error: (1) insufficient evidence, (2) manifest weight, (3) failure to give a limiting instruction on prior convictions, and (4) error in imposing consecutive sentences.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Johnson)	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence	Prior consistent statements to bystander, EMTs, ER staff, and police plus medical testimony support conviction	Victim recanted at trial; intoxication and lack of recovered bottle undermine proof	Conviction supported by sufficient evidence; overruled
Manifest weight	Multiple consistent out-of-court statements and medical evidence outweigh trial recantation; probation officer corroborated victim’s intent to lie	Trial testimony (under oath) should be deemed more credible; prior record and alleged lack of physical corroboration	Not against manifest weight; jury credited state’s evidence; overruled
Limiting instruction on prior convictions	Priors were stipulated and prosecution limited their use to felony grading, not propensity	Trial court should have sua sponte instructed jury a prior cannot be used to infer propensity	No plain error; no sua sponte instruction required under circumstances; overruled
Consecutive sentences	Trial court made and incorporated required R.C. 2929.14(C)(4) findings (protect public, not disproportionate, course of conduct/history)	Consecutive terms unnecessary; polygraph purportedly exonerates him; violation of protection order was not serious	Sentences affirmed; findings supported by record; overruled

State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (Ohio 1991) (standard for sufficiency review)
State v. Marcum, 146 Ohio St.3d 516 (Ohio 2016) (appellate review standard for felony sentences)
State v. Bonnell, 140 Ohio St.3d 209 (Ohio 2014) (requirements for trial-court sentencing findings and incorporation into judgment)