State v. Sexton, 2025 Ohio 718

Johnathan Sexton was convicted after a jury trial on two counts of felonious assault for striking his neighbor with a machete during a dispute involving the neighbor’s loose dog entering Sexton’s truck.
The altercation occurred on Sexton's property after the neighbor entered the yard and approached Sexton's truck to retrieve his dog, who had escaped.
Sexton claimed he acted in self-defense, alleging he feared for his safety when the neighbor allegedly reached for a pouch containing a pocketknife.
The neighbor suffered serious injuries, including deep lacerations and fractures, and testified that Sexton was the aggressor.
At trial, competing narratives were provided regarding who initiated the physical confrontation and whether lethal force was necessary.
Sexton challenged both the sufficiency of the jury’s rejection of his self-defense claim and the trial court’s failure to merge the two assault convictions for sentencing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence on self-defense	Sexton was the aggressor, not in imminent danger	Acted in self-defense fearing serious harm	Jury's rejection of self-defense was supported by the evidence
Merger of allied offenses for sentencing	Sentences should be imposed for both counts	Counts should merge as allied offenses	Trial court erred; counts must merge for sentencing

State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Manifest weight of the evidence standard in criminal appeals)
State v. Ruff, 143 Ohio St.3d 114 (Test for when offenses merge as allied offenses of similar import)
State v. Barnes, 94 Ohio St.3d 21 (Elements of self-defense in Ohio criminal law)