State v. Sekic, 2011 Ohio 4809

Two families (Sekic and Ford) are joined by marriage; Kris Ford is Lisa Ford’s half-brother who caused prior family tension; Andreas Sekic confronted the Ford family at Drug Mart and later at their residence; Asim Sekic accompanied his son and participated in the altercation; Kris Ford was knocked unconscious by a flower pot and Kris, Barbara, Steve, and Kenneth Ford testified to being assaulted; the police arrested Andreas and Asim the same night; Asim was convicted of felonious assault and sentenced to two years with $14,000 restitution; the conviction and restitution were appealed as to sufficiency, weight of the evidence, jury instructions, and restitution procedure; the appellate court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for restitution procedures.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for aiding and abetting felonious assault	State argues sufficient evidence supports aiding and abetting	Sekic argues no evidence of aiding and abetting	Sufficient evidence; conviction upheld on aiding and abetting
Jury instruction on aiding and abetting felonious assault	State contends proper instruction given by trial court	Sekic contends instruction errors	Instruction proper given sufficiency of evidence
Self-defense and defense of family member instruction	State contends evidence did not require self-defense instruction	Sekic asserts trial court should have instructed on self-defense/defense of family	No valid self-defense instruction required; evidence insufficient to raise issue
Conviction weight of the evidence	State asserts verdict supported by substantial evidence	Sekic claims verdict against manifest weight	Weight issue overruled; evidence sufficient to support verdict
Restitution amount and procedure	State relied on hospital bills and future costs; restitution imposed	Sekic argues improper restitution without hearing	Restitution reversed and remanded for proper hearing and calculation

State v. Bridgeman, 55 Ohio St.2d 261 (Ohio 1978) (standard for sufficiency review and related tests)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (Ohio 1991) (sufficiency standard for criminal convictions)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Ohio 1997) (judicial weighing when evaluating weight of evidence)
State v. Melchior, 56 Ohio St.2d 15 (Ohio 1978) (self-defense instruction when evidence raises reasonable doubt)
State v. Belanger, 190 Ohio App.3d 377 (Ohio 2010) (insufficient evidence for self-defense jury instruction)
State v. Robbins, 58 Ohio St.2d 74 (Ohio 1979) (self-defense standard and evidence)
State v. Marbury, 104 Ohio App.3d 179 (Ohio 1995) (restitution and hearing requirements)