State v. Silguero, Unpublished Decision (11-12-2002)
State v. Silguero, Unpublished Decision (11-12-2002)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Armando Silguero, appeals from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas finding him guilty of one count of murder, in violation of R.C.{¶ 2} By indictment filed August 3, 2001, appellant was charged with one count of aggravated murder, in violation of R.C.
{¶ 3} Appellant appeals, assigning the following error:
{¶ 4} "The trial court erred when it entered judgment against Appellant when the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction for murder."
{¶ 5} Appellant's lone assignment of error attacks the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his murder conviction. In determining the sufficiency of the evidence, the relevant inquiry is whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Martin (Apr. 19, 2001), Franklin App. No. 00AP-836; State v. Jenks (1991),
{¶ 6} However, we note that appellant failed to timely request a Crim.R. 29 motion for acquittal. He has, therefore, waived this sufficiency argument on appeal. State v. Roe (1989),
{¶ 7} Plain error exists where the outcome of the trial would clearly have been different but for the error. State v. Biros (1997),
{¶ 8} Appellant contends that there was insufficient evidence to show that he purposefully killed his wife. Instead, appellant argues that he should have been convicted of voluntary manslaughter due to the sudden passion under which he acted upon learning of his wife's infidelity. However, the evidence before the trial court was not patently insufficient to support appellant's murder conviction. Nor was it plain error to convict appellant of murder instead of voluntary manslaughter.
{¶ 9} Voluntary manslaughter is defined in R.C.
{¶ 10} "No person, while under the influence of sudden passion or in a sudden fit of rage, either of which is brought on by serious provocation occasioned by the victim that is reasonably sufficient to incite the person into using deadly force, shall knowingly cause the death of another." Id. Voluntary manslaughter is an inferior degree of murder and "[a] defendant on trial for * * * aggravated murder bears the burden of persuading the fact finder, by a preponderance of the evidence, that * * * she acted under the influence of sudden passion or in a sudden fit of rage, either of which was brought on by serious provocation occasioned by the victim that was reasonably sufficient to incite the defendant into using deadly force." State v. Rhodes (1992),
{¶ 11} Appellant contends that his wife's admission of an adulterous affair constituted reasonably sufficient provocation that brought on his sudden passion or rage. We disagree. "[W]ords alone will not constitute reasonably sufficient provocation to incite the use of deadly force in most situations." State v. Shane (1992),
{¶ 12} Appellant does not point to anything other than his wife's alleged admission of infidelity that caused him to kill her. Based upon this evidence, as well as other undisputed evidence regarding the manner and circumstances of his wife's death, it was not plain error for the trial court to convict appellant of murder instead of voluntary manslaughter.
{¶ 13} To be convicted of murder, sufficient evidence must be presented to show that appellant acted purposefully. As defined in R.C.
{¶ 14} For all of the above reasons, appellant's first assignment of error is overruled and the judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed. We do note that the trial court's January 17, 2002 judgment entry states that appellant was convicted of murder, a violation of R.C.
Judgment affirmed, and Case remanded to correct clerical error.
BOWMAN and LAZARUS, JJ., concur.
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