Are Robbery and Aggravated Robbery ‘Allied Offenses’ That Must Be Merged for Sentencing?
State of Ohio v. Cornelius Harris, Case no. 2007-1812 1st District Court of Appeals (Hamilton County) ISSUE: Under Ohio’s “allied offenses” statute, R. C. 2941.25, when a criminal defendant is charged with both robbery and aggravated robbery based on the same events, and is found to have committed both offenses, must the charges be merged into a single conviction punishable with a single sentence, or may the trial court convict and sentence the defendant on each charge separately? BACKGROUND: Cornelius Harris of Cincinnati was charged with three counts of robbery, three counts of aggravated robbery and five counts of felonious assault under two different sections of the assault statute. All of the counts were based on an incident in which Harris and a co-defendant robbed three victims at gunpoint, and the co-defendant subsequently shot two of the robbery victims when they attempted to overpower him and Harris. Harris was found guilty on all of the charged counts. The trial court impose
