State v. Merriweather, 84 N.E.3d 72

In March 2015 at Wise Guys Bar in Fairfield, Ohio, a fight between two groups led to gunfire; Vincent Brown was shot in the face and chest and died; Rodquisha Black (defendant's sister) was shot in the arm and survived.
Demarko J. Merriweather was identified at trial as the shooter based on distinctive clothing (a white Michael Kors shirt and a white tank top), surveillance video, witness identifications, and gunshot-residue (GSR) tests on his hands and some clothing.
Merriweather testified he did not shoot Brown; he admitted firing a gun into the air after his sister was shot and admitted lying to police during the initial interview.
A jury convicted Merriweather of murder, felonious assault (for shooting at another person), and accompanying firearm specifications; the court imposed consecutive sentences totaling 25 years (including a 4-year felonious-assault term labeled "mandatory").
On appeal Merriweather challenged sufficiency/manifest weight of evidence, admission of two photos from his phone, alleged prosecutorial misconduct, and the trial court’s labeling of the felonious-assault term as mandatory.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency / manifest weight of evidence for murder and felonious assault	State: identification by multiple witnesses, surveillance video, and GSR support convictions	Merriweather: evidence inconsistent; he denied shooting Brown and said he only fired in the air	Court: Evidence sufficient; jury did not lose its way; assignments overruled
Admission of two phone photographs	State: photos link Merriweather to the phone, show associations with others at scene (including Rafael Knight) and are probative	Merriweather: photos taken on other occasions are irrelevant and unduly prejudicial	Court: No abuse of discretion; probative value outweighed any prejudice; admission proper
Prosecutorial misconduct (opening, closing, burden-shift, credibility comments)	State: comments were fair comment on evidence and defendant’s changing story; did not shift burden	Merriweather: prosecutor improperly referenced grand jury, vouched, called him a liar, and shifted burden	Court: Remarks improper in part (grand jury), but not plain error; context made comments evidentiary; no unfair trial; assignment overruled
Sentencing labeling of felonious-assault term as “mandatory”	State: N/A (state conceded clerical error)	Merriweather: four-year felonious-assault term was erroneously labeled mandatory though statutory mandatory factors did not apply	Court: Sustained; trial court to issue nunc pro tunc entry removing “mandatory” from sentence

Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (Ohio 1991) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Collins, 89 Ohio St.3d 524 (Ohio 2000) (state may comment on defendant’s failure to produce evidence)
Elmore, 111 Ohio St.3d 515 (Ohio 2006) (standard for reversing on prosecutorial misconduct requires showing prejudice to substantial rights)