State v. Oliphant

Citations

• 2026 Ohio 2366

Syllabus

Juror removal; jury instructions; consciousness of guilt; flight; not guilty by reason of insanity defense; manifest weight of the evidence; competing experts; witness credibility. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by removing a seated juror mid-trial after discovering the juror solicited and accepted gifts from the defendant-appellant's family. The trial court did not err by instructing the jury on consciousness of guilt because the instruction was supported by sufficient evidence of the defendant-appellant's evasive conduct and did not unfairly prejudice his insanity defense. The defendant-appellant's murder and felonious assault convictions are not against the manifest weight of the evidence because the jury did not lose its way in resolving conflicting expert testimony and concluding that the defendant-appellant was capable of understanding the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the offenses.