State v. Walker, 2017 Ohio 7236

Around 1 a.m. on August 16, 2015, at an Akron gas station, Cordell Walker shot the victim multiple times; Walker was indicted for two counts of felonious assault (with firearm specifications) and one count of having weapons while under disability.
At trial Walker asserted self-defense and defense of others; the court instructed the jury on those defenses for the felonious assault counts but explicitly excluded them for the weapons-under-disability count.
The jury acquitted Walker on one felonious-assault count, convicted him on the other felonious-assault count and the firearm specification, and convicted him of having weapons while under disability; the court merged counts and imposed an aggregate nine-year sentence.
Key factual disputes: whether the victim had a gun, who drew a weapon first, and whether Walker was threatened; security video and multiple eyewitness accounts provided conflicting narratives.
Walker challenged (1) that his felonious-assault conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence because he acted in self-defense, and (2) that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury that self-defense applies to the weapons-under-disability charge. The Ninth District affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether felonious-assault conviction is against the manifest weight of the evidence (self-defense)	State: evidence supports the jury’s verdict; jury credibility findings are controlling	Walker: weight of evidence shows he acted in self-defense/defense of others	Court: Affirmed conviction; jury did not lose its way given conflicting eyewitness accounts and video evidence
Whether trial court erred by refusing to instruct that self-defense applies to having-weapon-under-disability charge	State: instruction not required; self-defense inapplicable to weapons-under-disability under facts	Walker: requested self-defense instruction for count three (including possible Second Amendment language)	Court: No reversible error; record lacks proposed instruction so appellate review not possible and court did not need to decide broader legal question

Otten v. State, 33 Ohio App.3d 339 (9th Dist. 1986) (standard for manifest-weight review)
Thompkins v. Ohio, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Ohio 1997) (appellate court as thirteenth juror in weight review)
Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 31 (U.S. 1982) (discussing appellate weight-of-evidence role)
Williford v. State, 49 Ohio St.3d 247 (Ohio 1990) (burden on defendant to prove self-defense by preponderance)
Goff v. State, 128 Ohio St.3d 169 (Ohio 2010) (self-defense elements explained)
State v. Thomas, 77 Ohio St.3d 323 (Ohio 1997) (self-defense standards)