State v. Sheffey, 2013 Ohio 2463

Defendant James Sheffey was indicted in January 2012 on four counts felonious assault with four victims, one count improperly discharging into habitation, one count having weapons under disability, and one count criminal damaging; firearm specifications attached to felonious assault and discharging counts included drive-by penalty enhancements.
Trial proceeded on remaining counts after waiving jury trial on the weapons-under-disability count; multiple witnesses testified about the incident at a house on 6th Avenue in East Cleveland.
The state presented eyewitness Hearn, corroborating witnesses Wilson and police officers; DNA/blood evidence tied Sheffey to the scene.
The jury found Sheffey guilty on all counts; the court separately found him guilty on the weapons-under-disability count and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.
Sheffey challenges the conviction and sentence on six assignments of error, which the court ultimately overrules and affirms the judgment.
The final judgment affirms the conviction, imposes costs on Sheffey, and remands for execution of sentence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Alford plea admissibility	Sheffey sought an Alford plea after innocence protests.	Court rejected plea; policy against blanket Alford bans.	No abuse; court did not err in proceeding to trial.
Allied offenses and firearm specifications merger	Firearm specs must merge with allied felonies; propor-tion misapplied.	Specifications are penalties, not offenses; merger not required.	Court properly imposed firearm specs under statutes; merger not required.
Plain error in sentencing journal entry	Entry ambiguously records total as 14 years.	Adkins misapplied; the entry is ambiguous.	No plain error; entry consistent with sentence as stated at hearing.
Manifest weight of the evidence	Hearn’s identification and corroborating evidence support guilt.	Identification reliability attacked; viewed as improper consideration.	Not against weight; evidence sufficient and credible under standard.
Sufficiency of the evidence	Evidence, including admissions and witnesses, supports all counts.	Some weaknesses; threatened credibility issues.	Evidence sufficient to sustain all convictions.

State v. Switzer, 2010-Ohio-2473 (8th Dist. 2010) (abuse-of-discretion standard for plea rejection not present here)
State v. Cassano, 2012-Ohio-4047 (8th Dist. 2012) (merger under R.C. 2929.14(B)(1)(g) governs multiple firearm specs)
State v. Philips, 2012-Ohio-473 (8th Dist. 2012) (single five-year sentence for drive-by specs; merger with others)
State v. Isreal, 2012-Ohio-4876 (12th Dist. 2012) (recognizes R.C. 2929.14(B)(1)(g) as exception to merger)
State v. Coffman, 2010-Ohio-1995 (10th Dist. 2010) (merger rules when multiple specs accompany separately)