State v. Colon, 2018 Ohio 1507

In December 2016, Sixto Colon was charged with felonious assault after an incident in which Samuel Gali (age 80+) sustained facial and nasal injuries and a fractured nasal bone; Colon was convicted of the lesser-included offense of aggravated assault.
Prosecution witnesses (Gali and Hector Cruz) testified Colon jumped on and repeatedly struck Gali, rendering him unconscious; medical records and photos corroborated Gali’s injuries.
Colon testified he acted in self-defense, claiming Gali approached with a machete, struck him in the neck, and Colon hit back; Colon’s girlfriend’s testimony supported his account; a coworker’s photos showed a red mark on Colon’s neck.
Another neighbor, Manuel Ramos, gave testimony favorable to Colon but the court found his account inconsistent with injuries and his relationship with Colon undermined credibility.
The jury rejected Colon’s affirmative self-defense claim; the trial court sentenced him to 12 months’ imprisonment and restitution of $203.41.
On appeal Colon raised (1) a constitutional challenge to R.C. 2901.05(A) that places burden on defendant to prove self-defense, and (2) a manifest-weight challenge to the jury’s rejection of his self-defense claim.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Constitutionality of R.C. 2901.05(A) (burden on defendant to prove self-defense)	State urged statute is constitutional and binding precedent (Martin) controls.	Colon argued Martin was undermined by Heller and statute is unconstitutional.	Court affirmed statute’s constitutionality, rejecting Colon’s Heller-based attack and adhering to Martin.
Whether conviction is against the manifest weight of the evidence given Colon’s self-defense claim	State argued credible eyewitness and medical evidence supported verdict.	Colon argued his testimony and corroborating witnesses proved self-defense by preponderance.	Court found jury credibility determinations reasonable and did not find the verdict against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Martin v. Ohio, 480 U.S. 228 (United States Supreme Court) (upheld Ohio law placing burden to prove self-defense on defendant)
District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (United States Supreme Court) (recognized an individual right to possess firearms for self-defense)
Thompkins v. Ohio, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Ohio 1997) (describes manifest-weight standard and role of appellate court as thirteenth juror)
State v. Goff, 128 Ohio St.3d 169 (Ohio 2010) (self-defense is affirmative defense proving elements by preponderance)
State v. Barnes, 94 Ohio St.3d 21 (Ohio 2002) (elements of self-defense and burden to prove avoidance/retreat requirements)