State v. Stephens, 59 N.E.3d 612

Defendant Michael Alan Stephens was indicted on felonious assault and carrying a concealed weapon after an in-home altercation in which he produced a pocketknife while his friend Robert Hill was removing computer hard drives; Hill suffered minor cuts.
After a jury trial Stephens was convicted of felonious assault and acquitted of carrying a concealed weapon; the trial court imposed five years of community-control sanctions.
Defense repeatedly argued Stephens acted in self-defense (and/or defense of property); the trial court denied a self-defense jury instruction, concluding Stephens initiated the confrontation over property and instead submitted aggravated assault as a lesser offense.
The prosecutor played a recorded interview in which Stephens said he was not a violent person; on cross-examination the state elicited testimony about a 2004 Tennessee domestic violence conviction after questioning whether Stephens had ever acted violently.
Stephens moved for acquittal under Crim.R. 29 twice; both motions were denied. He moved for mistrial after the prior-conviction matter; the court allowed the testimony, finding Stephens had opened the door.
The court of appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial, holding the trial court abused its discretion by refusing the self-defense instruction and by allowing prejudicial prior-conviction evidence; the ineffective-assistance claim was rendered moot.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on self-defense	State: Stephens provoked/initiated the incident over property, so self-defense instruction unwarranted	Stephens: presented sufficient evidence (pushed, shoved, hit head, feared harm in his home) to warrant self-defense instruction	Reversed: court abused discretion; instruction should have been given because evidence, viewed in defendant's favor, could support self-defense
Whether the state improperly introduced prior-conviction evidence on cross-examination	State: Stephens opened the door by agreeing he was not violent and admitting past acts of violence	Stephens: he did not introduce character for peacefulness; state cannot use its own playback of interview to open the door	Reversed: trial court abused discretion; prior-conviction testimony was prejudicial and not harmless
Whether cumulative errors require reversal / effect on ineffective-assistance claim	State: errors harmless or invited by defense	Stephens: errors deprived him of a fair trial	Court: cumulative error requires new trial; ineffective-assistance assignment rendered moot

Wolons v. Spitzer, 44 Ohio St.3d 64 (standard: abuse of discretion on jury instructions)
Comen v. Kaiser, 50 Ohio St.3d 206 (trial court must give relevant and necessary jury instructions)
Goldfuss v. Davidson, 79 Ohio St.3d 116 (insufficient-evidence standard for giving an instruction)
Melchior v. Department of Rehabilitation, 56 Ohio St.2d 15 (standard for raising an affirmative defense)
Robinson v. State, 47 Ohio St.2d 103 (view evidence in light most favorable to defendant for self-defense instruction)
Williford v. State, 49 Ohio St.3d 247 (elements of self-defense)
Robbins v. State, 58 Ohio St.2d 74 (self-defense elements referenced)
Steffen v. State, 31 Ohio St.3d 111 (right to be in residence terminates if the entrant commits a crime against the homeowner)
Lytle v. State, 48 Ohio St.2d 391 (harmless-error beyond a reasonable doubt standard)
Williams v. State, 6 Ohio St.3d 281 (overwhelming evidence exception to reversal)
Brown v. State, 65 Ohio St.3d 483 (no reasonable possibility unlawful testimony contributed = harmless)
Sage v. State, 31 Ohio St.3d 173 (trial court discretion on admission/exclusion of evidence)
Morris v. State, 132 Ohio St.3d 337 (appellate review of evidentiary rulings)
Morton v. State, 147 Ohio App.3d 43 (trier of fact decides whether self-defense elements are met)