State v. Miller, 2015 Ohio 3880

Defendant Maris Miller met the 23‑year‑old victim at Walmart and obtained $928.64 from him (promised car repairs) between March 12–14, 2014; the victim never was repaid.
The victim has a 1997 diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome, graduated college, and works part‑time at McDonald’s.
Miller pled no contest to theft under R.C. 2913.02(A)(3) with a "disabled adult" enhancement, and the trial court found him guilty and sentenced him to 12 months (with credit).
Miller did not object at plea or sentencing; the appeal raised the claim that the victim is not a "disabled adult" under R.C. 2913.01(DD).
The trial court treated the offense as a fifth‑degree felony (theft of a disabled adult); the court of appeals found the indictment lacked sufficient disability allegations and concluded the victim is not disabled as a matter of law on this record.
The appellate court reversed, holding Miller should be convicted of first‑degree misdemeanor theft and remanded for resentencing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the victim qualified as a "disabled adult" under R.C. 2913.01(DD) so as to elevate theft to a fifth‑degree felony	State asserted the victim’s Asperger’s Syndrome supported the "disabled adult" enhancement	Miller argued Asperger’s does not necessarily meet the statute’s disability definition; here the victim was highly functioning (college grad, employed)	Court held the record did not support that the victim was a "disabled adult" and reversed the felony enhancement; conviction reduced to misdemeanor theft
Whether appellate review is barred by Miller’s failure to object at plea/sentencing (waiver) or whether plain error review applies	State implicitly relied on waiver rules tied to no contest plea	Miller acknowledged waiver but urged plain error review because the indictment lacked sufficient allegations and the error affected the outcome	Court applied plain‑error review and found error warranted reversal because, but for the enhancement, the outcome (classification/sentence) would have been different

State v. Kelly, 57 Ohio St.3d 127 (1991) (no‑contest plea waives pre‑plea nonjurisdictional defects)
State v. Campbell, 69 Ohio St.3d 38 (1994) (plain‑error standard under Crim.R. 52(B))
State v. Bird, 81 Ohio St.3d 582 (1998) (indictment must contain sufficient allegations to state offense)
State ex rel. Stern v. Mascio, 75 Ohio St.3d 422 (1996) (prosecutor’s obligations re: indictments and pleadings)
State v. Long, 53 Ohio St.2d 91 (1978) (plain‑error doctrine explained)
State v. Harrison, 122 Ohio St.3d 512 (2009) (plain‑error review applied sparingly to prevent manifest miscarriage of justice)