State v. Lovato, 2014 Ohio 2311

Lovato was convicted by a jury in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas of multiple rapes, kidnappings, felonious assaults, and intimidation, with sexual-motivation enhancements for several counts; he received an aggregate sentence of 76 years to life.
The charged offenses arose from two separate incidents: one with H.C. and one with T.M., involving kidnapping, rape, and assault.
Lovato argued that allied offenses of similar import should merge and that counsel was ineffective for not moving to merge; he also challenged the voluntariness of his confession and faced a witness-intimidation conviction.
The appellate court affirmed the trial court on all issues, holding no merger for the offenses, no ineffective-assistance prejudice, the confession voluntary, and that the intimidation conviction was moot due to the defendant serving the sentence.
The decision discusses the statutory framework for allied offenses (R.C. 2941.25) and analyzes whether kidnapping, rape, and felonious assault were committed with the same conduct and single animus, ultimately ruling against merger.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether allied offenses of similar import should merge	State argues kidnapping, rape, and felonious assault were separate acts with distinct restraints.	Lovato contends the offenses were allied and should merge.	Allied offenses did not merge; offenses were committed as separate acts with independent restraint.
Ineffective assistance of counsel for not requesting merger	State: no prejudice from not requesting merger given no merited merger.	Lovato claims counsel's failure affected the outcome.	Overruled; no prejudice shown.
Voluntariness of Lovato’s confession	State contends confession was voluntary and properly admitted.	Lovato claims the confession was involuntary due to sleep deprivation and coercive questioning.	Overruled; confession voluntary under totality of circumstances.
Sufficiency/mo/otness of intimidation of a witness conviction	State argues there was evidence of intimidation.	Lovato asserts insufficient evidence to support the conviction.	Moot for appeal because the misdemeanor sentence was already served; merits not reached.

State v. Johnson, 128 Ohio St.3d 153 (Ohio 2010) (defines allied-offense analysis under R.C. 2941.25)
State v. Logan, 60 Ohio St.2d 126 (Ohio 1979) (defines animus/purpose for kidnapping and separate conduct)
State v. Ware, 63 Ohio St.2d 84 (Ohio 1980) (kidnapping asportation analysis with rape; separate acts may exist)
Griffin v. State (State v. Griffin), 2013-Ohio-3036 (2d Dist. Montgomery) (standard for reviewing voluntariness determinations)