State v. Tunstall

Citations

• 2020 Ohio 5124

Syllabus

Appellant's convictions for murder, felonious assault, and discharge of a firearm on or near a prohibited premise were supported by sufficient evidence and by the manifest weight of the evidence where the state proved appellant had motive and a plan to shoot rival gang members, he provided the firearm used in the shooting to his fellow gang member, he acted as a scout immediately before the shooting, and he sought to conceal and dispose of evidence of the crime, including the firearm and clothing worn during the shooting. The trial court did not err in admitting evidence of appellant's gang affiliation under Evid.R. 404(B) as such evidence was relevant to show motive and a plan for the shooting of rival gang members and the probative value of the evidence was not outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Though the 404(B) limiting instruction provided to the jury was overly broad, the court's instruction did not amount to plain error where the instruction was not objected to by defense counsel and the instruction provided was substantially similar to the model instruction set forth in the Ohio Jury Instructions.