State v. Patterson, 2016 Ohio 2750

On August 22, 2014, Patterson and his live-in girlfriend, Jasmine Williams, had an altercation in their Beavercreek, Ohio apartment after an argument; Williams suffered cuts, bruises, swelling, and neck tenderness consistent with choking.
Williams called 911 and reported holding a handgun she kept in her nightstand; police and an ER physician observed injuries consistent with assault and choking.
Patterson testified he packed to leave, claimed Williams became physically aggressive, went for a handgun, and he grabbed her hand and jerked it to make her drop the gun; a physical struggle followed and Patterson conceded he bit her lip.
Patterson was indicted for attempted felonious assault, abduction, and violating a protection order; after a jury trial he was convicted of misdemeanor assault (lesser included), felony abduction, and misdemeanor protection-order violation.
Defense counsel argued facts suggesting Williams was the aggressor and that Patterson feared being shot, but counsel never requested a jury instruction on self-defense; during deliberations the jury asked whether it could consider self-defense and was told no.
The trial court sentenced Patterson to concurrent terms (aggregate 36 months). Patterson appealed, arguing ineffective assistance because counsel failed to request a self-defense instruction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for not requesting a self-defense jury instruction	State: Counsel's omission was a tactical choice and not reversible absent showing of prejudice	Patterson: Counsel should have requested self-defense instruction because his testimony supported it and the jury asked about it	Court held counsel was ineffective: failure to request the instruction was objectively unreasonable and prejudicial; reversed and remanded

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishes two-prong ineffective assistance standard)
State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136 (Ohio adoption of Strickland analysis)
State v. Clayton, 62 Ohio St.2d 45 (failure to request jury instructions generally a matter of trial tactics)
State v. Guster, 66 Ohio St.2d 266 (court should not give instructions unless specifically applicable to case facts)
State v. Melchior, 56 Ohio St.2d 15 (jury instruction on self-defense warranted if evidence would raise reasonable doubt)
State v. Brown, 38 Ohio St.3d 305 (strategic choices by counsel not usually ineffective assistance)
State v. Cook, 65 Ohio St.3d 516 (debateable strategy decisions are not a basis for ineffective assistance)