## Facts

- Jeffrey Miller was indicted for aggravated murder and felony murder, each with firearm specifications, after his wife Lisa Miller died from a gunshot wound.
- Earlier on the day of the shooting, Miller practiced firing a .357 Magnum with his uncle and later went drinking at a bar.
- After leaving the bar with a neighbor, Miller returned home; the neighbor left when Lisa arrived.
- A next-door neighbor testified he heard Miller threaten to kill Lisa if she did not “shut up,” and later heard a gunshot.
- Lisa’s daughter testified that shortly before the shooting Lisa said Miller was drunk and “playing with his guns.”
- Miller called 911 and told responding officers he had accidentally shot Lisa while trying to stop the bleeding.
- The deputy coroner testified Lisa was shot in the face from about 18 inches away and bled to death.
- The state introduced testimony from Lisa’s co-worker that Lisa feared Miller and intended to leave him; the trial court admitted the statements under the state-of-mind hearsay exception.
- A jury convicted Miller of felony murder (death proximately resulting from felonious assault) with a firearm specification; the court of appeals reversed on manifest-weight grounds, and the state appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether felony murder under R.C. 2903.02(B) may be supported by a predicate felonious assault when the evidence permits a finding that the defendant knowingly caused physical harm by firing a gun at close range.
2. Whether a court of appeals may reverse a conviction as against the manifest weight of the evidence without unanimous concurrence of the three-judge panel as required by Ohio law.
3. Whether the victim’s statements expressing fear of the defendant and intent to leave were admissible under Evid.R. 803(3)’s state-of-mind exception.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Ohio reversed the court of appeals and reinstated the trial court’s felony-murder conviction and firearm specification.
- The evidence permitted a rational jury to find Miller knowingly caused physical harm constituting felonious assault, supporting felony murder under R.C. 2903.02(B).
- The court of appeals erred by reversing on manifest-weight grounds without the required unanimous concurrence of all three judges.
- The trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the victim’s statements under Evid.R. 803(3) to show her then-existing fear and intent.

## Legal Principles

- Felony murder under R.C. 2903.02(B), with felonious assault as the underlying offense of violence, is supported by evidence establishing the defendant knowingly caused physical harm to the victim.
- “Knowingly” may be inferred from circumstantial evidence, including firing a gun at close range at a vital area, because such conduct supports awareness that serious harm will probably occur.
- An appellate court’s reversal of a conviction as against the manifest weight of the evidence requires unanimous concurrence of the three-judge panel as mandated by Ohio law.
- Under Evid.R. 803(3), statements of a declarant’s then-existing emotion or intent (e.g., fear, plan to leave) are admissible to prove that state of mind, not to prove the truth of past external events.

## Conclusion

The court held that felony murder may be predicated on felonious assault where the evidence supports a finding that the defendant knowingly caused harm, rejected a manifest-weight reversal entered without required panel unanimity, and approved admission of the victim’s fear-and-intent statements under the state-of-mind hearsay exception.


State v. Miller, 96 Ohio St. 3d 384 (Ohio 2002)