State v. Dixon

Citations

• 2022 Ohio 3157

Syllabus

The trial court did not err in refusing to instruct the jury on the inferior-degree offenses of aggravated assault and voluntary manslaughter. The evidence did not reasonably support a finding that appellant shot the victim while acting under the influence of sudden passion or in a fit of rage brought about by serious provocation. The trial court did not err in failing to instruct the jury about willful maltreatment by medical personnel as an independent intervening cause of the victim's death. The record does not reflect that appellant sought such an instruction, which was not warranted by the evidence in any event. The trial court did not err in failing to apply Ohio's recently-enacted \stand-your-ground\ law. The law's changes to R.C. 2901.09 did not apply retroactively to appellant, who committed her offenses prior to April 6, 2021. The jury's guilty verdicts for murder and felonious assault were supported by legally sufficient evidence and were not against the weight of the evidence. The jury reasonably rejected appellant's self-defense argument and her claim that gross negligence by medical personnel was an independent intervening cause of the victim's death. Judgment affirmed.