State v. Smith, 2016 Ohio 8420

Appellant Edward Smith was tried by jury and convicted of two counts of murder (each with a firearm specification) and, following a bench trial, convicted of having weapons while under disability; the jury found Smith guilty on both murder counts and firearm specifications.
Facts: On Nov. 25, 2013, two men (Elliot Dowdell and LeDondre Raimey) were shot inside a residence after a drug-related meeting; both later died. Witnesses saw Smith enter the house, heard multiple gunshots, then saw Smith running from the house carrying a gun and flee in a waiting vehicle.
Physical evidence linked the recovered .45 pistol to the shootings: two spent casings in the kitchen matched the gun found later in Smith’s motel room; BCI matched Smith’s DNA to the gun and to clothing/vest recovered at the motel; gunshot residue was on Smith’s hands.
Phone records and witness testimony showed recent communications between Smith and one victim and a motive (complaints about "bad/cut" drugs); witnesses also testified Smith had expressed intent to address the drug issue and called associates after the shootings.
At sentencing the court imposed consecutive life terms (15 years to life on each murder count), a mandatory consecutive 3-year firearm specification term (the trial court said would be served prior to the life terms, but the written judgment omitted the consecutive/prior language and was modified by the appeals court).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on involuntary manslaughter as a lesser-included offense of murder	State: No error; the evidence supports purposeful murder, not an accidental killing	Smith: Evidence could support a finding that deaths were accidental or non-purposeful, so an involuntary manslaughter instruction was required	Court: No abuse of discretion; evidence did not reasonably support acquittal on murder and conviction for involuntary manslaughter.
Whether the convictions are against the manifest weight of the evidence	State: Evidence (wounds, ballistics, witnesses, flight, motive) supports purposeful killings	Smith: Challenges credibility of witnesses and argues lack of proof of purpose	Court: Not against manifest weight; jury reasonably credited state’s witnesses and evidence.
Whether sentencing (consecutive life terms and consideration of seriousness factors) was improper	State: Court properly considered R.C. 2929.12 and made required findings for consecutive terms	Smith: Court failed to appropriately consider seriousness factors	Court: Trial court stated it considered seriousness/recidivism factors on record; sentence not contrary to law; appellate court modified judgment to expressly order firearm specification served consecutively and prior to murder terms.

State v. Thomas, 40 Ohio St.3d 213 (involuntary manslaughter is a lesser-included offense of murder)
State v. Johnson, 6 Ohio St.3d 420 (distinguishing offenses by mental state; common element is causing death)
State v. Wine, 140 Ohio St.3d 409 (lesser-included instruction required only if evidence could reasonably support acquittal of greater and conviction of lesser)
State v. Deanda, 136 Ohio St.3d 18 (two-part test for lesser-included instruction)
State v. Kidder, 32 Ohio St.3d 279 (lesser-included offense analysis)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (standard for manifest-weight review)
State v. Foster, 109 Ohio St.3d 1 (trial court must ‘consider’ R.C. 2929.11 and 2929.12 factors)