State v. Hodge

Citations

• 2019 Ohio 4012

Syllabus

The trial court did not err in overruling defendant's Batson objection to the state's peremptory challenge of a prospective juror. And because there was no evidence that defendant acted under a sudden passion or a sudden fit of rage, the trial court did not err in declining to charge the jury on voluntary manslaughter: any fear that the defendant may have had about what the victim might have done had he retrieved the gun from defendant would not provide a basis for finding voluntary manslaughter rather than murder. Defendant concedes that identification of him as the shooter \was not a contested issue\ the jury had evidence sufficient to support its murder and aggravated robbery verdicts, which were not against the manifest weight of the evidence. Finally, limited juror discussion of the possibility that defendant was incarcerated pending the trial's conclusion did not require the trial court to declare a mistrial after removing one juror, giving a curative instruction, and receiving assurance that the remaining jurors would remain fair and impartial. Judgment affirmed.