In State v. Grimes, 1st Dist. No. C-030922, 2005 Ohio 203, the state presented evidence that the defendant's family had attempted to prevent witnesses from testifying against Grimes by threatening and intimidating them. During his closing argument, the prosecutor urged the jury to "send a message loud and clear back to the hood that this city is not going to tolerate this violence" and "that the threats are not going to work." Id. at P25. The Court concluded that the prosecutor's statements improperly appealed to the jury's sympathy and urged the jury to use its verdict to send a message, regardless of Grimes's guilt. But because the trial court had given a curative instruction and because the evidence of Grimes's guilt was overwhelming, we affirmed his conviction. Id. at P35.