State v. White, 2014 Ohio 1446

State charged White with Domestic Violence (2 priors), plus rape and kidnapping; conviction on Domestic Violence followed by guilty plea to kidnapping for related charges; sentencing totaled four years in prison with concurrent terms.
Prosecution proved the victim Griffeth resided with White in a boarding-house room, and she testified to a two-month cohabitation period prior to the offense.
Griffeth testified to a continuous period of living together; White testified she stayed only eight or nine nights, which the jury could disbelieve.
The offense occurred December 26, 2012, involving White allegedly beating Griffeth with a belt buckle, boot, and belt for about 30 minutes.
The trial court denied White’s Crim.R. 29 motion for acquittal; the jury found him guilty of Domestic Violence (two priors) and deadlocked on other charges, later resolved by guilty plea to kidnapping.
The appellate court held that the State presented sufficient evidence of cohabitation and that the conviction is not against the manifest weight of the evidence, affirming the judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the State proved Griffeth was a family/household member to sustain DV	State contends Griffeth cohabited with White	White contends no cohabitation	Yes; sufficient evidence supported cohabitation and the DV conviction

State v. Williams, 79 Ohio St.3d 459 (1997-Ohio-301) (cohabitation elements when shared residence not present)
State v. McGlothan, 138 Ohio St.3d 146 (2014-Ohio-85) (clarifies cohabitation standard for DV)
State v. Woullard, 158 Ohio App.3d 31 (2004-Ohio-3395) (burden of establishing cohabitation is not substantial)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997-Ohio-313) (weight-of-evidence standard; credibility determinations)
State v. Cassell, 2d Dist. Clark No. 09CA0064, 2011-Ohio-23 () (weighing conflicting inferences; manifest weight)