State v. McKnight

Summary

The Ohio Fourth District Court of Appeals affirmed Rickey L. McKnight’s burglary and felonious-assault convictions and the sentence imposed for violating community-control sanctions. The court held that the evidence sufficiently supported findings that McKnight trespassed by stealth and that the jury reasonably rejected his self-defense claim. The court also affirmed the community-control-violation judgment because McKnight did not assign error to it.

Holdings

1. A person may commit trespass and burglary against property the person legally owns when another person has control or custody of the property; therefore, McKnight's alleged landlord status and possession of a key did not preclude a finding of trespass.
2. Any privilege to enter or remain on the premises was withdrawn when McKnight assaulted J.M.; the victim's instruction to leave independently revoked any consent.
3. The evidence was sufficient and supported the jury's manifest-weight finding that McKnight trespassed by stealth when he used a key to enter the residence without announcing his presence and entered the room while J.M. was sleeping.
4. McKnight's burglary conviction was not against the manifest weight of the evidence.
5. McKnight's felonious-assault conviction was not against the manifest weight of the evidence because the jury could reasonably find beyond a reasonable doubt that McKnight was at fault in creating the altercation and therefore did not act in self-defense.
6. The community-control-violation judgment was affirmed because McKnight did not assign error to that judgment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether McKnight's burglary conviction was supported by sufficient evidence and was not against the manifest weight of the evidence, particularly as to trespass and entry by stealth or deception.
2. Whether McKnight's felonious-assault conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence because he acted in self-defense.
3. Whether the trial court's judgment imposing a sentence for a community-control violation should be affirmed when McKnight assigned no error to that judgment.

Disposition

affirmed