State v. Patterson, 2012 Ohio 2839

Patterson was convicted by jury of aggravated felony murder, aggravated burglary, improper discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure, and tampering with evidence, with accompanying firearm specifications.
The shooting occurred when Patterson kicked in Snyder’s apartment door, fired through it at Snyder, who was behind the door, and fled to Toledo, abandoning the gun.
The grand jury indicted Patterson on four counts and firearm specifications; Patterson pled not guilty.
The trial court denied bond modifications; Patterson remained in custody pending trial.
The trial court later found Counts 1–3 allied offenses and sentenced on aggravated felony murder to life with 30-year parole eligibility, plus separate terms for firearm and tampering with evidence, all consecutive for a total life-plus sentence.
On appeal Patterson challenges sufficiency/weight, bond, venue, jury instructions, admission of prior statements, and related procedural rulings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency/weight of evidence for aggravated felony murder	State argues evidence supports trespass and intent to kill	Patterson asserts insufficiency or weight issues for burglary element and intent	Evidence supports conviction; not against weight of evidence
Excessive bond and due process/assistance	Excessive bail violates due process and counsel effectiveness	Bond justified by flight risk and seriousness of offenses	Bond not excessive; no ineffective assistance shown
Change of venue/pretrial publicity and counsel performance	Publicity prejudiced jury; counsel failed to timely raise issue	Voir dire and two-part questionnaire mitigated prejudice; no ineffective assistance	No abuse of discretion; counsel not ineffective; change of venue properly denied
Admission of Hampton statement and related evidentiary rulings	Hampton’s prior statement admissible as probative of theory and corroboration	Hampton statement is prejudicial hearsay; improper vouching by officers	Admission proper under Evid.R. 801(D)(1)(b); no plain error; officers' testimony admissible for investigatory process

State v. Wright, 3d Dist. No. 5-01-10 (Aug. 24, 2001) (entry tunnel? sufficient for burglary trespass when any part of body enters)
State v. Treesh, 90 Ohio St.3d 460 (2001) (establishes standard for intent when determining intentional killings)
State v. Roberts, 2006-Ohio-3665 (Ct. App.) (voicing that voir dire best test for pretrial publicity impact; abuse of discretion standard)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (1981) (sufficiency of evidence standard (Jenks))
State v. Kalish, 120 Ohio St.3d 23 (2008) (standard of review for felony sentencing under R.C. 2953.08(G))