State v. Hamilton, 2011 Ohio 2783

Hamilton killed Jackson in the early morning hours of February 21, 2009 amid a volatile relationship between Hamilton and Crump.
Crump had obtained a protection order against Hamilton in February 2008 due to prior violence.
Crump, Williams, Fenimore, and Jackson were at Williams’ apartment; Hamilton testified he entered Crump’s apartment through a window.
Jackson entered Crump’s apartment to get beer; a struggle ensued between Hamilton and Jackson, with Hamilton stabbing Jackson multiple times.
Hamilton claimed self-defense, stating Jackson initially aggressed and choked him; police later investigated the stabbing and Hamilton surrendered.
The jury convicted Hamilton of aggravated murder (two counts), murder, aggravated burglary, felonious assault, tampering with evidence, and violating a protection order, but acquitted him of aggravated murder under a different subsection and found him not guilty of premeditated murder.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred in refusing a voluntary manslaughter instruction	Hamilton	State	No abuse of discretion; insufficient evidence of sudden passion or rage

State v. Comen, 50 Ohio St.3d 206 (1990) (jury instructions and necessity of complete guidance)
State v. Lessin, 67 Ohio St.3d 487 (1993-Ohio-52) (standard for when to instruct on lesser offenses)
State v. Mitts, 81 Ohio St.3d 223 (1998-Ohio-635) (evidence sufficiency for instructions)
State v. Wolons, 44 Ohio St.3d 64 (1989) (abuse of discretion in jury instruction analysis)
State v. Shane, 63 Ohio St.3d 630 (1992) (probable provocation standard for voluntary manslaughter)