State v. Griffin

Summary

The Ohio Twelfth District Court of Appeals affirmed Donald W. Griffin's conviction for aggravated menacing under Ohio Revised Code § 2903.21(A). The court held that sufficient evidence supported findings that Griffin knowingly caused the victim to believe he would cause serious physical harm and that the conviction was not against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Holdings

1. The conviction was supported by sufficient evidence because, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, Griffin's retrieval and racking of a firearm immediately after a heated confrontation, together with his turning toward Mitchell, permitted a rational trier of fact to find that Griffin knowingly caused Mitchell to believe he would cause serious physical harm.
2. The conviction was not against the manifest weight of the evidence because the trial court reasonably credited Mitchell's testimony and rejected Griffin's competing account, and the evidence did not weigh heavily against the conviction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether sufficient evidence supported Griffin's conviction for aggravated menacing, including proof that he knowingly caused Mitchell to believe he would cause serious physical harm.
2. Whether Griffin's conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Disposition

affirmed