State v. Matthews, 2015 Ohio 5075

Police responded to a report of two women fighting; officers found Natasha Matthews loudly yelling at her sister, Erika Higgins, outside Higgins’ residence with bystanders present.
Officers separated the sisters and repeatedly told Matthews (four times) to leave or face arrest for disorderly conduct; Matthews continued yelling and cursing.
An officer attempted to arrest Matthews; she struggled and tried to pull away while the officer attempted to put on handcuffs.
Matthews was charged with misconduct at an emergency (R.C. 2917.13) and resisting arrest (R.C. 2921.33); the trial court acquitted her of misconduct at an emergency but found her guilty of resisting arrest after a bench trial.
At sentencing the court solicited mitigation from defense counsel but did not personally ask Matthews if she wished to speak (allocution); the court imposed a stayed sentence with community control.
On appeal the First District affirmed the conviction but reversed the sentence and remanded for resentencing because the trial court denied Matthews the right of allocution.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Complaint defects (misnaming and omission of statute number) — jurisdiction/waiver	State: Complaint was sufficient; any defect was waived or not plain error	Matthews: Complaint misnamed her and omitted statute number, depriving court of jurisdiction	Waived/misnomer issue forfeited; omission of statute number not plain error and did not mislead defense — claim overruled
Sufficiency/weight of evidence for resisting arrest — lawfulness of arrest	State: Officers observed disorderly conduct; warnings to leave made arrest lawful; defendant resisted	Matthews: Arrest was not lawful, so resisting-arrest conviction cannot stand	Evidence sufficient and weight appropriate; reasonable officer could believe disorderly conduct occurred; conviction affirmed
Whether defendant actually resisted arrest (actus reus)	State: Matthews pulled away and struggled when officer tried to handcuff her	Matthews: Denies resisting conduct sufficient to convict	Trial court as factfinder credited officers; element of resisting proved beyond reasonable doubt — affirmed
Right of allocution at sentencing	State: Court sought counsel mitigation; no prejudice; harmless	Matthews: Court failed to personally ask her to speak, violating Crim.R.32(A)(1) and right of allocution	Court erred by not addressing defendant personally; error not harmless — sentence reversed and remanded for resentencing

State v. Payne, 114 Ohio St.3d 502 (Ohio 2007) (defendant may waive complaint defects; issues not raised in trial court are forfeited)
State v. Thompson, 116 Ohio App.3d 740 (1st Dist. 1996) (lawful arrest assessed by whether facts would give a reasonable officer cause to believe an offense occurred)
State v. Sansalone, 71 Ohio App.3d 284 (1st Dist. 1991) (resisting-arrest conviction may stand even if underlying charge proves unfounded)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Ohio 1997) (standard for reversing based on weight of the evidence)
State v. DeHass, 10 Ohio St.2d 230 (Ohio 1967) (trial court is the finder of fact and determines witness credibility)
State v. Conway, 108 Ohio St.3d 214 (Ohio 2006) (elements and proof requirements for resisting arrest)
State v. Green, 90 Ohio St.3d 352 (Ohio 2000) (defendant’s personal right of allocution under Crim.R. 32(A)(1))
State v. Campbell, 90 Ohio St.3d 320 (Ohio 2000) (failure to afford allocution requires resentencing unless error is invited or harmless)
State v. Leach, 150 Ohio App.3d 567 (1st Dist. 2002) (cumulative-error doctrine applicability)
State v. Yarbrough, 104 Ohio St.3d 1 (Ohio 2004) (discussing cumulative error and harmless-error principles)