City of Columbus v. Peoples, Unpublished Decision (5-25-2006)
City of Columbus v. Peoples, Unpublished Decision (5-25-2006)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} "App.R. 26 provides a mechanism by which a party may prevent miscarriages of justice that could arise when an appellate court makes an obvious error or renders an unsupportable decision under the law." State v. Owens (1997),
{¶ 3} "App.R. 26 does not provide specific guidelines to be used by an appellate court when determining whether a decision should be reconsidered or modified." Id. at 335. The effect of an alleged error on the holding or analysis of a case is often determinative of whether the decision should be reconsidered.2
{¶ 4} Appellant seeks reconsideration of our determination on his second assignment of error, in which he asserted:
IF THE ASSAULT CONVICTION IS SUPPORTED BY THE WEIGHT AND SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE, THEN THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT ENTERED JUDGMENT AGAINST THE DEFENDANT WHEN THE EVIDENCE UNEQUIVOCALLY DEMONSTRATED THAT THE SECURITY GUARDS WERE THE FIRST TO USE FORCE AGAINST THE DEFENDANT AND THAT THE DEFENDANT WAS JUSTIFIED IN RESPONDING TO THIS USE OF FORCE IN DEFENSE OF HIS OWN PERSON.
{¶ 5} In our April 4, 2006 opinion, we noted that the defense of self-defense is an affirmative defense and a defendant bears the burden of proving the elements of self-defense by a preponderance of the evidence. Citing State v. New, 10th Dist. No. 05AP-262, 2005-Ohio-6471, we noted the elements of self-defense were that a "defendant must prove: (1) that he was not at fault in creating the violent situation; (2) that he had a bona fide belief that he was in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm; and (3) that his only means of escape was the use of force."
{¶ 6} In considering the defense of self-defense, we noted that the Supreme Court of Ohio has stated that self-defense "admits the facts claimed by the prosecution and then relies on independent facts or circumstances which the defendant claims exempt him from liability." State v. Martin (1986),
{¶ 7} In his motion for reconsideration, appellant asserts that as this case does not involve danger of death or great bodily harm, we erroneously cited to, and relied on, the elements of self-defense as set forth in New, supra. Appellant further asserts that this court held that a defendant must admit committing an offense before the defendant may assert self-defense as a justification, and thus this court failed to properly consider resulting constitutional implications from such holding. Specifically, appellant argues that the holding of this court requires that before a defendant can assert the defense of self-defense, he must first waive his rights pursuant to the
{¶ 8} In response, appellee contends that appellant's motion for reconsideration is rendered moot by this court's determination that the verdict was not against the manifest weight of the evidence. In addition, appellee argues that our opinion does not hold that a defendant must admit committing an offense in order to assert the defense of self-defense, but holds that appellant cannot assert on appeal that the trial court erred by failing to consider self-defense when appellant testified at trial that he never defended himself. Finally, appellee asserts that because this court did not rely on New, supra, that any error by citing New was harmless and not "obvious."
{¶ 9} We neither relied on, nor applied, the elements of self-defense as set forth in New, supra, in reaching our holding. Instead, we determined that a defendant cannot avail himself of the defense of self-defense on appeal when the defendant testifies at trial and unequivocally denies committing the offense of assault. Thus, the discussion and reference toNew was not necessary to our analysis of the facts presented and our holding.
{¶ 10} Appellant also raises constitutional concerns from our holding stating that it stands for the proposition that a defendant must testify at trial that he committed an offense before asserting the affirmative defense of self-defense in violation of the
{¶ 11} For the foregoing reasons, we perceive no obvious error on which we relied in our earlier opinion overruling appellant's second assignment of error, nor do we perceive any failure to consider an issue that we should have considered. Accordingly, we deny appellant's motion for reconsideration.
Motion for reconsideration denied.
Klatt, P.J., French, J., concur.
Q. Did you at any time strike Officer Nalbach?
A. Didn't have a chance to.
Q. Did you at any time strike Officer Reynolds?
A. No, ma'am. I didn't have a chance.
Q. Did you strike any of the officers involved?
A. No, ma'am. I didn't have a chance to.
(Tr. 56-57.)
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