State v. Jones

Citations

• 2025 Ohio 2144

Syllabus

Aggravated murder; sufficiency of the evidence; manifest weight of the evidence; pre-arrest silence; privilege against self-incrimination; self-defense; jury instruction; plain error; Crim.R. 52(B); ineffective assistance of counsel; cumulative error; sentence. Defendant's convictions were supported by sufficient evidence and were not against the manifest weight of the evidence. Statements made regarding a detective's attempts to communicate with the defendant during the investigation were not improper comments on her pre-arrest silence. There was no plain error in declining to give a self-defense jury instruction where the evidence did not support the defense. Trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to admissible testimony or failing to request an inapplicable jury instruction. The trial court erred by considering the defendant's silence in crafting its sentence.