State v. Hunt

Citations

• 2023 Ohio 1977

Syllabus

Self-defense transferred intent prosecutorial misconduct closing argument objective reasonable belief inconsistent verdicts felonious assault reckless assault lesser-included offense instruction manifest weight of the evidence sufficient evidence. The trial court did not commit prejudicial error in instructing the jury on transferred intent where the evidence showed that the defendant was only trying to shoot a single target and the transferred-intent instruction was inapplicable. Trial court's charge on self-defense, which included an element requiring proof that the defendant acted reasonably, was an accurate statement of the law. Trial court properly refused request for a lesser-included-offense instruction on reckless assault where the evidence did not support a finding of reckless assault. Inconsistent verdicts did not deprive the defendant of due process of law. Prosecutor's argument that the defendant was required to act reasonably when acting in self-defense was not prosecutorial misconduct because the prosecutor's statements were consistent with the law on self-defense. Because the defendant bears the burden of producing evidence to support a claim of self-defense, a self-defense claim is not subject to a sufficiency-of-the-evidence claim. Defendant's felonious-assault convictions were not against the manifest weight of the evidence.