State v. Rednour, 2013 Ohio 2125

Paradiso was found dead March 13, 2010 in Dayton; cause of death determined as strangulation with blunt force trauma.
Rednour was identified as the last person seen with Paradiso alive and was located near the murder scene; DNA from Rednour was found on Paradiso’s breast.
Investigation included interviews of Rednour, witnesses, and a DNA swab; Rednour gave inconsistent statements and later signed a DNA consent after detectives explained rights.
Rednour was convicted of Murder and Felonious Assault after a jury trial, with the Felonious Assault merged into Murder for sentencing to produce a total sentence of 15 years to life.
The trial court later imposed court costs in the termination entry without addressing them at sentencing, and sentenced the Felonious Assault charge as a concurrent term despite merger; these issues prompted post-trial appeals.
On appeal, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings to address costs and Merger corrections.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
suppression of statements and DNA consent	Rednour argues his invocation of silence was ignored and DNA consent was not voluntary	Rednour contends the August 30 interrogation violated rights and consent was coerced	Overruled; rights not violated; consent voluntary
mistrial request due to prosecutor's relative's death	Death of prosecutor’s relative could taint jury; mistrial warranted	Court properly curtailed with curative instruction	Overruled; curative instruction adequate; no mistrial required
ineffective assistance of counsel	Counsel failed to properly impeach witness and establish timeline	Counsel's performance reasonable; no prejudice shown	Overruled; no deficient performance demonstrated
weight of the evidence	Evidence insufficient to sustain verdict beyond reasonable doubt	Evidence sufficient; reasonable juror could find guilt	Overruled; verdict not against the manifest weight of the evidence
court costs and merger error	Costs were imposed improperly and merger affected sentencing	Costs should be waived or properly addressed; merger corrected on remand	Sustained on costs issue; remanded for waiver and merger correction

Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U.S. 96 (U.S. Supreme Court, 1975) (right to cut off questioning must be scrupulously honored)
Davis v. United States, 512 U.S. 452 (U.S. Supreme Court, 1994) (ambiguous invocation of right to counsel or silence does not require cessation unless unambiguous)
State v. Murphy, 91 Ohio St.3d 516 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2001) (ambiguous invocation rule applies to right to remain silent as well as right to counsel)
Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (U.S. Supreme Court, 1973) (voluntariness of consent factors for searches)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1991) (establishes standard for circumstantial evidence sufficiency and jury weighing)
Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 436 (U.S. Supreme Court, 1969) (probable cause standard for informant-based investigations)
State v. George, 45 Ohio St.3d 325 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1989) (probable cause standard for warrants; Gates framework)
State v. Dudley, 2012-Ohio-3844 (Ohio 2d Dist. Montgomery Co., 2012) (waiver considerations when costs are not discussed at sentencing)
State v. Joseph, 125 Ohio St.3d 76 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2010) (costs imposition and waivers analysis)