State v. Wappner

Citations

• 2026 Ohio 1350

Syllabus

On appeal from jury convictions for felonious assault, felony murder, and reckless homicide, arising from the defendant's acts of striking the victim with a gun and shooting the victim. The defendant admitted to the acts but attempted to assert that he struck the victim in defense of others and shot the victim by accident. The court allowed the accident defense but instructed the jury that it could not consider defense of others, holding that the two defenses were mutually exclusive. The trial court erred in disallowing the defendant's defense-of-others claim; because each defense applied to a separate act, the two defenses were not mutually exclusive. The error affected defendant's felonious assault and felony murder convictions, but it did not impact the reckless homicide conviction. Judgment affirmed in part and reversed in part. Cause remanded for further proceedings on the charges of felonious assault and felony murder.