State v. Rice, 2021 Ohio 1882

Rice was indicted along with codefendants for multiple offenses arising from a September 5, 2018 robbery/shooting; Count 10 charged Rice with having weapons while under disability (R.C. 2923.13(A)(2)).
Rice waived a jury for Count 10; the remaining counts went to a jury. The jury acquitted Rice of Counts 2–9; the trial court (bench) found him guilty on Count 10 and related firearm specifications. Sentence: aggregate 85 months.
Surveillance video showed Rice at the scene in a Ford Fusion: he took something from a co-defendant, entered the driver’s seat, repeatedly flashed headlights as an assault began, positioned the car to facilitate escape, and waited until co-defendants were inside a vehicle before leaving.
Three firearms were later recovered from the Fusion’s trunk (including a Kahr .40 taken from the victim during the robbery); ballistics linked casings at the scene to the recovered guns.
Forensic evidence: Rice’s DNA matched a swab from the vehicle’s rear passenger door panel; Rice made recorded jailhouse calls placing himself at the scene and discussing the incident.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence to convict under R.C. 2923.13(A)(2)	State: circumstantial evidence (video conduct, positioning of vehicle, DNA, phone calls, guns recovered from trunk, ballistics) shows Rice aided and abetted and thus constructively possessed firearms	Rice: no evidence he knew about or placed the guns in the trunk or otherwise had possession/knowledge of them; mere presence is insufficient	Affirmed — evidence sufficient to show Rice aided/abetted co-defendants and constructively possessed weapons while under disability
Manifest weight of the evidence	State: trial court could reasonably credit the surveillance/video, forensic, and testimonial evidence showing Rice’s participation and intent	Rice: jury acquittals on related counts and lack of direct proof about when guns were placed in trunk show conviction is against the weight of the evidence	Affirmed — conviction not against the manifest weight; trier of fact did not lose its way

State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259, 574 N.E.2d 492 (standard for sufficiency review)
State v. Durr, 58 Ohio St.3d 86, 568 N.E.2d 674 (use of circumstantial evidence)
State v. Wolery, 46 Ohio St.2d 316, 348 N.E.2d 351 (constructive possession defined)
State v. Hankerson, 70 Ohio St.2d 87, 434 N.E.2d 1362 (consciousness of presence required for possession inference)
State v. Johnson, 93 Ohio St.3d 240, 754 N.E.2d 796 (aiding and abetting and inference of shared intent)
State v. Chapman, 21 Ohio St.3d 41, 487 N.E.2d 566 (accomplice liability where only one actor physically possessed a weapon)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 678 N.E.2d 541 (manifest-weight review standard)
State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172, 485 N.E.2d 717 (weighing evidence and credibility in manifest-weight analysis)