State v. Knight, 2012 Ohio 5816

Knight represented himself at a bench trial in Lorain Municipal Court; he was convicted of petty theft and sentenced to 180 days in jail with 150 days suspended on one year of monitored time.
Theft involved a $75 box of spareribs at Fligner’s Market; store personnel questioned Knight who claimed to be delivering it to a customer.
A “paid” sticker appeared on the box but was unsigned by an employee, raising questions of consent and authorization.
The State relied on circumstantial evidence showing Knight intended to deprive the owner, including statements about delivering to a non-existent customer.
Knight challenged sufficiency and weight of the evidence, and argued the court violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by allowing self-representation without a proper waiver.
The court affirmed the conviction as supported by sufficient evidence but modified the sentence by vacating the jail term due to improper waiver of counsel.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the evidence supports theft conviction	Knight argues insufficient proof of theft; he had consent to handle the meat	State contends circumstantial evidence shows intent to deprive and lack of consent	Sufficient evidence; conviction affirmed on sufficiency and weight
Whether the trial violated Sixth Amendment by letting Knight represent himself	Knight claims lack of waiver of counsel	State did not address waiver	Waiver of counsel not properly obtained; Sixth Amendment violated
Whether jail sentence imposed after self-representation must be vacated	N/a	N/a	Jail term vacated; sentence modified to remove incarceration portion
Whether the court correctly applied waiver and sentencing rules for petty offense	N/a	N/a	Sentence cured by appellate modification; case affirmed as modified

State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (sufficiency standard; de novo review for weight; Jenks standard cited)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (1991) (circumstantial evidence and standard of review for sufficiency)
State v. Phillips, 84 Ohio App.3d 836 (1993) (consent of owner; shoplifting scenario)
State v. Paster, 2012-Ohio-2746 (2012) (theft in shoplifting context; not require exiting store with merchandise)
State v. Haag, 1976 WL 188795 (1976) (waiver of counsel in petty offense; vacate jail term without proper waiver)
State v. Dowey, 2012-Ohio-4915 (2012) ( Haaga/Dowey approach to waiver; sustain waiver requirement)
State v. Henley, 138 Ohio App.3d 209 (2000) (waiver and court appointment of counsel for indigents or others)