Jones v. State
Jones v. State
Opinion of the Court
Appellant, Shawn J. Jones, appeals the trial court's denial of his motion to dismiss a severed charge for possession of a firearm by a felon, arguing that collateral estoppel barred any further prosecution after he was previously tried by a jury and found not guilty of murder with a firearm. We disagree and affirm.
Appellant was indicted for murder with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. After successfully moving to sever the felon-in-possession charge for a separate trial, Appellant proceeded to jury trial on the murder with a firearm charge. The only percipient witness, Sims, testified that he saw Appellant outside holding a handgun and heard him say that he was going to rob and kill the next person he saw. Sims retreated to his home and four or five minutes later heard gunshots. The victim was shot and killed. No eyewitnesses to the shooting came forward. Nor was there any evidence to connect the handgun Sims saw Appellant holding to the shooting. The jury found Appellant not guilty of murder while discharging, possessing, or carrying a firearm.
Then, Appellant filed a motion to dismiss the remaining, previously severed, charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on the ground that collateral estoppel barred further prosecution. In *1274order for collateral estoppel to prevent further prosecution, the issue sought to be foreclosed "must necessarily have been determined in the defendant's favor" in the earlier trial. State v. Short ,
AFFIRMED.
ORFINGER and GROSSHANS, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.