In any criminal case in which the defendant's motive or intent, the absence of mistake or accident on his part, or the defendant's scheme, plan, or system in doing an act is material, any acts of the defendant which tend to show his motive or intent, the absence of mistake or accident on his part, or the defendant's scheme, plan, or system in doing the act in question may be proved, whether they are contemporaneous with or prior or subsequent thereto, notwithstanding that such proof may show or tend to show the commission of another crime by the defendant.
Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2945.59
Proof of defendant's motive
Applied in 62 court decisions — leading case 65 Ohio St. 3d 51 - State v. Schaim (1992)
Most recently applied in State v. Bansobeza (August 2025)
Effective: October 1, 1953; Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Ohio Laws & Administrative Rules (Legislative Service Commission). Reproduced from public-domain Ohio statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.