State v. Whitman, 2013 Ohio 5822

On July 4, 2008, Christopher Whitman took a Kawasaki motorcycle from the front porch of Corey Schultz’s home during a party in Geneva, Ohio; the motorcycle and keys were later missing and Whitman crashed the bike ~20 miles away in Lake County before midnight.
Whitman told responders he had “borrowed a friend’s motorcycle” and admitted heavy drinking; toxicology showed a .110 BAC; he also had a suspended license. Whitman testified he intended only to take a ride and planned to return the bike.
A grand jury indicted Whitman for Grand Theft of a Motor Vehicle (R.C. 2913.02); a jury convicted him following trial.
Defense counsel introduced the entire police file (including LEADS printout with references to prior issues) as an exhibit during cross-examination.
Whitman failed to appear at the originally scheduled sentencing in 2009; sentencing occurred in 2013, the court denied a continuance for a presentence investigation (PSI), and imposed one year in prison.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
1) Whether counsel was ineffective for admitting the entire police file as an exhibit	State: admission was not offered to show bad character and did not prejudice the verdict	Whitman: admission of the full file introduced damaging prior-history material and was objectively unreasonable	Court: No ineffective assistance — counsel’s choice presumed reasonable and no prejudice shown
2) Whether the court erred by not instructing jury on lesser included offense (Unauthorized Use)	State: evidence supported theft; lesser instruction not required	Whitman: jury should have been instructed on unauthorized use; alternatively counsel ineffective for not securing the instruction	Court: No error — evidence supported intent to deprive; no prejudice from failure to instruct; no ineffective-assistance prejudice
3) Whether sentencing without a presentence investigation (PSI) violated R.C. 2951.03	State: PSI not required because sentence was imprisonment and defendant had failed to cooperate/appear	Whitman: court should have delayed to prepare a PSI and consider it; sentence punished failure to appear	Court: No error — PSI required only before imposing community control/probation; court permissibly imposed prison partly because Whitman violated bond by failing to appear

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective assistance two‑prong standard)
State v. Madrigal, 87 Ohio St.3d 378 (Ohio application of Strickland)
State v. Evans, 122 Ohio St.3d 381 (lesser‑included offense test factors)
State v. Underwood, 3 Ohio St.3d 12 (waiver for failure to object to jury instruction)
State v. Kalish, 120 Ohio St.3d 23 (appellate standard for reviewing felony sentences)
State v. Cyrus, 63 Ohio St.3d 164 (PSI required only when probation/community control is at issue)