State v. Bell

Citations

• 2025 Ohio 2526

Syllabus

Jury instruction; R.C. 2901.05(B)(1); self-defense; burden of production; sufficient evidence; at fault. Judgment affirmed. The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied the defendant's request for a self-defense jury instruction where the defendant's self-defense claim was unsupported by sufficient evidence. The defendant did not satisfy his burden of production for the first element of self-defense — that he was not at fault in creating the situation giving rise to the affray — where the record established that he voluntarily entered an encounter with the victim, chose to confront the victim on the victim's own property, and escalated the dispute.