COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, EIGHTH DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA NO. 71653 STATE OF OHIO : : JOURNAL ENTRY Plaintiff-Appellee : : and -vs- : : OPINION DENISE JONES : : Defendant-Appellant : : DATE OF ANNOUNCEMENT August 7, 1997 OF DECISION: CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Criminal appeal from Common Pleas Court Case No. CR-338712 JUDGMENT: Affirmed. DATE OF JOURNALIZATION: __________________________ APPEARANCE: For Plaintiff-Appellee: For Defendant-Appellant: STEPHANIE TUBBS-JONES, ESQ. STEPHEN L. MILES, ESQ. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor 20800 Center Ridge Road JOHN F. CORRIGAN, ESQ. Suite 217 Assistant Prosecutor Rocky River, Ohio 44116 8th Floor Justice Center 1200 Ontario Street Cleveland, Ohio 44113 PATRICIA ANN BLACKMON, P.J.: Denise Jones, defendant-appellant, appeals from the trial 2 court's decision convicting her of felonious assault and sentencing her accordingly. Jones assigns the following error for our review: THE VERDICTS WERE AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE. Having reviewed the record and the legal arguments of the parties, we affirm the decision of the trial court. The apposite facts follow. Jones was charged with felonious assault in connection with an incident at Mike's Beverage Store. On April 5, 1996, Jones arrived at Mike's Beverage Store and picked up a bottle of beer. Jones took the beer to the cashier's counter, pushed aside a woman who was standing in line at the counter, and put beer on the counter. Paul Eadeh, the store's owner, observed Jones' behavior and chided her for her conduct. Aaron Jones, a neighborhood man who helped out at the store, asked Jones to leave the store. Jones became angry and began cursing and yelling. Aaron Jones grabbed Jones in a bear-hug type grip and took her out of the store. Jones walked away. Jones returned ten to fifteen minutes later and began arguing with Fred Gramm, a casual employee of the store. Jones hit Gramm with a metal pipe leaving him with injuries to his nose and eye. She also cut Gramm's face with a razor. Aaron Jones came outside to help Gramm. Jones then hit Aaron Jones in the eye and hit him in the groin with the bottle of beer. The bottle broke, cutting Aaron Jones' hand. Jones picked up the neck of the bottle and wielded it as a weapon toward Aaron Jones. When police arrived, Jones was screaming and cursing. She was 3 handcuffed and arrested after a short struggle. She was later charged with two counts of felonious assault. After a jury trial, Jones was convicted and sentenced to five to fifteen years in prison. This appeal followed. In her sole assignment of error, Jones argues her conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence. After reviewing the entire record, weighing the evidence and all reasonable inferences, considering the credibility of the witnesses, we must determine whether the jury clearly lost its way in resolving the conflicts in the evidence and created such a manifest miscarriage of justice that Jones' conviction must be reversed and a new trial ordered. See State v. Martin (1983), 20 Ohio App.3d 172, 175. Weight of the evidence concerns the inclination of the greater amount of credible evidence, offered in a trial, to support one side of the issue rather than the other. It indicates clearly to the jury that the party having the burden of proof will be entitled to their verdict, if on weighing the evidence in their minds, they shall find the greater amount of credible evidence sustains the issue which is to be established before them. Weight is not a question of mathematics, but depends on its effect in inducing belief. State v. Thompkins (1997), 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 387. The gist of Jones' argument is that the testimony of the state's witnesses was contradictory and incredible. She argues that, although several witnesses testified that Jones hit Fred Gramm with a pipe, Gramm himself denied that a pipe was used. During the trial, Gramm was described as somewhat simple-minded and mentally retarded. However, he clearly described being cut in the face with a razor. 4 James Malloy, an employee of a nearby garage, Aaron Jones, and Paul Eadeh, the store's owner, all testified that Jones used a metal pipe to hit Gramm. Aaron Jones told of being hit in the groin with a forty ounce bottle of beer, punched in the eye, and cut by broken glass wielded by Jones. In light of the evidence presented, we conclude the jury did not lose its way in resolving the conflicts in the evidence. Their decision did not create a manifest injustice necessitating a new trial. The jury fulfilled its role as fact finder by evaluating the credibility of the witnesses and determining what occurred during the incident. The jury chose to believe the state's witnesses who testified that Jones attacked Gramm and Aaron Jones with a metal pipe, a glass bottle, and a razor. We cannot say after reviewing the entire record that the evidence weighed heavily against the conviction. Judgment affirmed. herein taxed. The Court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal. It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this Court directing the Common Pleas Court to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. Exceptions. SPELLACY, J., and ROCCO, J., CONCUR. PATRICIA ANN BLACKMON PRESIDING JUDGE N.B. This entry is an announcement of the court's decision. See App.R. 22(B), 22(D) and 26(A); Loc.App.R. 27. This decision will be journalized and will become the judgment and order of the court pursuant to App.R. 22(E) unless a motion for reconsideration with supporting brief, per App.R. 26(A), is filed within ten (10) days of the announcement of the court's decision. The time period for review by the Supreme Court of Ohio shall begin to run upon the .