State v. McCall, 2021 Ohio 1032

Victim Naika Brown was found dead from a single close-range gunshot to the forehead; autopsy and ballistics identified a .40 caliber projectile and a spent .40 casing at the scene. No firearm was recovered.
Korey Jones owned a .40 cal Smith & Wesson that went missing days before the shooting; a photo from McCall’s phone showed him holding a similar handgun.
Keondra Horace (at the apartment that night) heard an argument between Brown and Jakobe McCall about a stolen video game and a gun, then heard a pistol being racked and one shot; moments later McCall entered her room saying he "freaked out" and asked whether she would identify him.
Jones received threatening texts from McCall before the shooting; after McCall’s arrest he told Jones he shot Brown because the game was stolen.
McCall initially pleaded guilty to a lesser offense, withdrew his plea, proceeded to jury trial, and was convicted of murder and tampering with evidence; sentenced to 15 years-to-life plus a consecutive 3-year firearm specification and a concurrent 12 months for tampering.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to file a motion in limine to exclude post-shooting statements and failing to move for acquittal under Crim.R. 29	Counsel’s decisions were reasonable; a motion in limine was not required and a Crim.R. 29 motion would have been futile because the evidence was sufficient	Trial counsel was deficient for not seeking exclusion of allegedly prejudicial statements and not moving for acquittal	Court held counsel not ineffective: not filing a motion in limine is not per se deficient; statements were not unduly prejudicial; a Crim.R. 29 motion would have been futile given the evidence
Sufficiency of the evidence and manifest weight challenge to murder and tampering convictions	Circumstantial evidence (eye- and ear-witness account of racking/shot, McCall seen with the gun, matching .40 cal ballistics, post-shooting admissions, and absence of the weapon) supports purposeful killing and tampering	Evidence insufficient and verdict against manifest weight	Court held the evidence was sufficient and the verdict was not against the manifest weight of the evidence; convictions affirmed

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501 (1976) (trial in jail clothing and presumption of innocence considerations)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (sufficiency of the evidence standard and distinction from manifest-weight review)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (1991) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
State v. Conway, 109 Ohio St.3d 412 (2006) (deference to counsel’s reasonable professional decisions)
State v. Williams, 99 Ohio St.3d 439 (2003) (recognizing that evidence of arrest or custody does not inherently violate presumption of innocence)
State v. DeHass, 10 Ohio St.2d 230 (1967) (credibility and weight of testimony are for the trier of fact)
State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172 (1983) (articulating that reversal for manifest weight is reserved for exceptional cases)