STATE OF OHIO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ERIC BRYAN AMODEI, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 114763
COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA
October 2, 2025
[Cite as State v. Amodei, 2025-Ohio-4592.]
DEENA R. CALABRESE, J.
Criminal Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CR-23-686293-A JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED
Michael C. O‘Malley, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and Kristin M. Karkutt and Jordan Mason, Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys, for appellee.
Marein & Bradley, LLC, and Mary Jo Tipping, for appellant.
DEENA R. CALABRESE, J.:
{¶ 1} On October 30, 2024, a Cuyahoga County jury found defendant-appellant Eric Bryan Amodei (“appellant“) guilty of murder, felonious assault, and discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises. The trial court entered
I. Facts and Procedural History
{¶ 2} This case involves a shooting on October 27, 2023, near the intersection of West 30th Street and Roanoke Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. Appellant, who had been arguing with the victim while both walked along Roanoke, shot the victim seven times and left the scene. The victim perished at MetroHealth Medical Center less than an hour later. On November 2, 2023, the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury returned a six-count indictment charging appellant with the following offenses:
Count 1: aggravated murder in violation of
R.C. 2903.01(A) , an unclassified felony;Count 2: murder in violation of
R.C. 2903.02(A) , an unclassified felony;Count 3: murder in violation of
R.C. 2903.02(B) , an unclassified felony;Count 4: felonious assault in violation of
R.C. 2903.11(A)(1) , a felony of the second degree;Count 5: felonious assault in violation of
R.C. 2903.11(A)(2) , a felony of the second degree; andCount 6: discharge of firearm on or near prohibited premises in violation of
R.C. 2923.162(A)(3) , a felony of the first degree.
{¶ 3} Counts 1 through 6 all carried one- and three-year firearm specifications pursuant to
{¶ 4} On March 26, 2024, appellant filed a notice of self-defense pursuant to Crim.R. 12.2. The matter proceeded to a jury trial beginning October 21, 2024. For
{¶ 5} The shooting occurred shortly after 8:00 p.m. on October 27, 2023. The jury heard testimony from eyewitness Angel Amarro, who was visiting his father-in-law‘s house at 3202 Roanoke that evening. The home, which sits on the north side of Roanoke, was equipped with motion-activated security cameras, one pointed east (in the direction of West 30th) and the other west (in the direction of State Road). Amarro testified that he parked his truck in a vacant lot across the street from the home, remaining there to play with his young daughter while his son slept in the truck. He began to hear arguing coming from several houses away to his left as he faced the street (i.e., to the west), describing it as swearing and taunting. The arguing stopped, and the victim, whom Amarro had never met, crossed paths with Amarro as he walked east on Roanoke. Amarro testified that he was holding his daughter in his arms and that the victim apologized for swearing. The victim then continued east on Roanoke towards West 30th. Amarro testified that the victim appeared calm. Amarro never observed any weapons on the victim.
{¶ 6} The victim continued walking east toward West 30th, passing several homes. Amarro testified that the victim “was walking towards 30th and [appellant] started to walk down from 30th.” (Tr. 442.) Amarro testified that appellant “approached [the victim] and then some arguing had started again.” (Tr. 441.) He testified that based upon the language used, this argument and the previous argument down the street in the opposite direction appeared to be related. He
From that point it was a couple of arguments. [The victim] tried to walk away at that point and had said to the man, you‘re not going to shoot me and the man kept walking towards him and [the victim] turned around and told him if you‘re going to shoot me, then shoot me and took a couple more steps and the man fired the gun a couple of times.
(Tr. 442.) Amarro testified that the victim “did try to walk away,” but “the man with the gun kept following him.” (Tr. 443.)
{¶ 7} After the shooting, Amarro secured his daughter in his truck. Once he observed that appellant was no longer on the scene, he ran to render aid to the victim while yelling at his father-in-law and his wife to call 911. He did not observe any weapons near the victim, did not take anything from the victim, and did not see anyone else touch the victim other than personnel rendering aid.
{¶ 8} Video surveillance footage from the cameras at 3202 Roanoke captured a portion of the first argument. (State‘s exhibit No. 103(E).) The video depicted the victim walking eastbound on the opposite sidewalk, several houses west of 3202 Roanoke. While the audio is mostly indecipherable, the victim raised his voice and then made a brief detour into the street, gesturing with his hands to an unseen person or persons to the west. He moved back to the sidewalk, however, and
{¶ 9} The police also obtained surveillance footage from the residence at 3305 Roanoke, which sits on the south side of the street to the west of 3202 Roanoke (i.e., closer to State Road). The home sits directly across from 3304 Roanoke, situated on the north side of the street. Testimony indicated that a person residing at 3304 Roanoke had a son named “Sebastian” who was in a relationship with appellant‘s sister at the time of the incident.
{¶ 10} A resident of 3305 Roanoke, Daniel Matos, testified with respect to the footage and his observations. The first clip depicted a white sedan parking in front of 3305 Roanoke. (State‘s exhibit No. 104(A).) Matos testified that although he was sitting on the porch, he was minding his own business and did not notice the white sedan park in front of the house. A subsequent clip captured the victim walking on the sidewalk, left to right (i.e., west to east), directly in front of 3305 Roanoke. (State‘s exhibit No. 104(D).) Matos testified that he had seen “a guy come by and he started going back and forth with the guy across the street and they walked down.” (Tr. 400.) Indecipherable arguing can be heard in three subsequent clips. Matos did not recognize the victim. While he testified that he thought the argument was between the victim “and the guy across the street,” he denied knowing who,
{¶ 11} A person appearing to be wearing a dark shirt crossed the street and entered the driver‘s side of the white sedan. (State‘s exhibit No. 104(E)-104(G).)1 In the final clip from 3305 Roanoke, the white sedan pulled away. (Tr. 410; State‘s exhibit No. 104(H).) Matos testified that he did not see the person getting in the sedan, but it “was a little bit after, after this video” that he heard gunshots. (Tr. 410.)
{¶ 12} Video obtained from a home at 3009 Roanoke captured the fatal shooting, as well as the moments leading up to it. (State‘s exhibit No. 2(A)-2(C).) The video, which has no audio, depicted the victim walking on the sidewalk down Roanoke toward West 30th, on the south side of the street. Appellant was holding a Glock 45 9 mm semiautomatic pistol. In the first frame, appellant was in the middle of the street with the firearm in his right hand, but lowered to his side. The victim was at that point further west on Roanoke and on the sidewalk. As the victim
{¶ 13} The victim continued walking on the sidewalk toward West 30th, passing appellant, who remained in the street but near the tree lawn. Appellant, still with his gun pointed at the victim, walked parallel to the sidewalk, following the victim‘s eastward path and remaining close to the tree lawn. He then lowered his weapon to his side. The two continued walking toward West 30th, with appellant‘s weapon still lowered to his side. Appellant was close to the tree lawn, and the victim was on the sidewalk. They continued walking in the same direction, and the victim stopped on the sidewalk. At this point, the surveillance camera‘s view of the victim was obscured by a pillar. An automobile going westbound on Roanoke crossed West 30th and began to continue up the street. Appellant nevertheless began to back into the street. The victim then returned into camera view, moving very rapidly towards appellant. Appellant scurried backwards and began firing.
{¶ 15} Appellant met with his girlfriend the same evening and turned himself in to Cleveland police. While he and his girlfriend allegedly told conflicting stories about who drove to the police station, detectives ultimately determined from jail calls and text messages that appellant drove a white Acura sedan.
{¶ 16} Appellant testified at trial. Prior to recounting the night of the shooting, he testified that in 2020 he had intervened in a dispute between a man and woman outside a store, and that that the man, who had never been prosecuted, “stabbed [him] in the right side of [his] chest and [his] lung collapsed.” (Tr. 931.) Appellant testified that he lost a lot of blood and “lost consciousness,” ultimately awakening at a hospital. (Tr. 931.) He spent “a good period of time there” and was eventually sent home “with a bag to continue draining the blood” from “internal bleeding.” (Tr. 931.) He testified to continuing anxiety regarding the incident.
{¶ 17} Appellant further testified that he and the victim had never met. Appellant testified that the evening of the incident, a Friday, his sister‘s boyfriend Sebastian called him to help hang some interior items at his “new place in the Old Brooklyn area.” (Tr. 934.) He claimed he did not know exactly where the residence was located, even though he had been there once before — as a passenger in a U-Haul — to help them move some heavier items.
{¶ 19} It was at this point, according to appellant‘s testimony, that he first encountered the victim. He claimed he had heard “some mumbling and stuff” coming from further down the street before the encounter. (Tr. 938.) Appellant testified that he started out on the opposite sidewalk from the victim, but ultimately “was going out of somebody‘s driveway to cross the street to go back toward [his] car on West 30th.” (Tr. 937-938.) The two “locked eyes,” and the victim reportedly “began to state . . . what the F was [appellant] looking at and things like that.” (Tr. 938.) They then began to argue back and forth, with appellant believing the victim was intoxicated.2 Appellant testified that he told the victim he did not know what his problem was, and that the victim said “that his problem would become
{¶ 20} Appellant testified that at that point he was in the street and the victim was still on the sidewalk. According to appellant, the victim stated that “it was best for [appellant] to keep on going . . . or he was going to F me up and things of that nature.” (Tr. 938.) Appellant testified he became defensive, clarifying that then he was “in the middle of the street a little bit ahead of” the victim, with the victim behind him. (Tr. 938.) Appellant continued:
So I become defensive at this point and I‘m just, you know, keeping aware of my surroundings and watching him. And at that point we‘re just going back and forth a little bit, and he mentioned at this point that he would — as the argument is going, he mentioned at this point that, you know, if I didn‘t want to get stabbed the F up that I would keep going, that it was best for me to keep going. And at that point I take my firearm out of my holster[.]
(Tr. 939.)3 Appellant then unholstered the firearm and turned on the attached flashlight “due to the threat of the stabbing.” (Tr. 940.) He testified that he pointed the firearm at the victim.
{¶ 21} At that point, according to appellant, the victim “begins to just like keep walking, you know, in the same direction as me.” (Tr. 940.) The victim taunted him, saying, “[S]hoot me, if you‘re going to shoot me you would have done it already.” (Tr. 940.) Appellant testified that he pointed the flashlight and racked the
{¶ 22} Appellant stated that he put the firearm back down to his side because he hoped that once the victim saw that he was armed, “he would just keep his distance and that things didn‘t have to go there.” (Tr. 941.) He then testified:
[The victim] mentioned that he had a knife and that he would stab me. I was hoping that things didn‘t have to go that far, you know, and to that depth.
So at that point, you know, once I lowered the firearm he just began to mouth things, you know, shoot me, you aren‘t going to shoot me, and calling me names still. And at that point he turned towards me, and lunged at me stating that he was going to kill me. And you can see that I jumped backwards and began to raise my firearm, begin firing, and still moving backwards because of the fear that I was in, you know. I had no choice but to begin to be defensive and defend myself.
(Tr. 941.) Appellant testified that “it was a verbal confrontation until it turned physical by the physical lunge towards me, you know. I tried to leave it at just the verbal until I had no choice to defend myself, you know, and that‘s what I tried to do.” (Tr. 950.)
{¶ 23} Appellant explained his quick departure from the scene, testifying that he saw people emerge from their homes and did not know whether it might be “any of this man‘s family.” (Tr. 942.) He claimed to continue on to his vehicle, parked on West 30th.
{¶ 24} On cross-examination, when asked whether he testified that he saw the victim wield a knife, appellant responded that the victim “just stated that he
Q. And at this point when the weapon is raised and the flashlight is shining, you see no knife, right?
A. No.
Q. Just words, according to you?
A. Right. And do I begin to fire at that point?
(Emphasis added.) (Tr. 961.) Pressed on the issue of seeing the victim in possession of a knife, appellant testified:
Q. Okay, well, I‘m asking you now, sir. At the time that you cocked your weapon and flashed that light in his eyes, did he have a knife?
A. When I cocked the weapon and flashed the flashlight, I did not see the knife. As he lunged towards me, he was reaching for the knife and extending his arm towards me that you can see in the video.
Q. Right. After someone cocked a weapon, flashed a bright light in their face, and pointed a gun, right? That‘s when you say he pulled out a knife and lunged at you, didn‘t you?
A. I said it was a verbal dispute.
...
Q. Who showed their deadly weapon first, you or [the victim]?
A. I had the firearm.
(Emphasis added.) (Tr. 966.)
{¶ 25} In short, on direct examination, appellant never stated that he saw any weapon, including a knife, in the victim‘s possession before drawing his firearm. On cross-examination, he was asked multiple times if he observed a knife, and each time he replied that the victim had only threatened him with words. At the conclusion of his testimony, all he could say was that the victim was “reaching for” an unseen knife when he lunged at him. He further admitted, however, that even if the never-located knife existed, he was the first to display a deadly weapon, rack the slide of his semiautomatic handgun, and point it at the victim.
{¶ 26} Following the conclusion of testimony, the trial court engaged in extensive discussion on the record with respect to a self-defense instruction. The trial court ultimately declined to instruct the jury on self-defense, explaining that it had reviewed numerous cases and narrowed its focus to the issue of which party was at fault in creating the situation giving rise to the affray. It concluded that “the initial affray, in the Court‘s opinion, began when the weapon was pointed at [the victim] with the light on.” (Tr. 991.) It continued: “For that reason, I find that in review of all of Palmer and all the case law that has been published since Palmer was published, I believe that defendant has failed to meet the first prong of the self-defense jury instruction.” (Tr. 991.)
{¶ 27} The jury returned a verdict of not guilty of aggravated murder as charged in Count 1, but guilty on all remaining counts of murder, felonious assault,
II. Assignment of Error
{¶ 28} Appellant presents a single assignment of error for our review:
The trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on self-defense, in derogation of Defendant‘s right to due process of law, as protected by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.
{¶ 29} Finding no merit to the appeal, we overrule appellant‘s assignment of error and affirm his conviction.
III. Analysis
{¶ 30} We review the trial court‘s decision for an abuse of discretion. A trial court abuses its discretion when it “exercise[es] its judgment, in an unwarranted way, in regard to a matter over which it has discretionary authority.” Johnson v. Abdullah, 2021-Ohio-3304, ¶ 35. “Because the trial court is in the best position to gauge the evidence before the jury, we will reverse the trial court‘s decision to deny a defendant‘s request for a self-defense jury instruction only if the trial court‘s ‘attitude [was] unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable.‘” State v. Palmer, 2024-Ohio-539, ¶ 22, quoting State v. Wolons, 44 Ohio St.3d 64, 68 (1989). See also State v. Harris, 2025-Ohio-2774, ¶ 12 (8th Dist.); State v. Bell, 2025-Ohio-2526, ¶ 20 (8th Dist.).
A person is allowed to act in self-defense . . . . If, at the trial of a person who is accused of an offense that involved the person‘s use of force against another, there is evidence presented that tends to support that the accused person used the force in self-defense . . . the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused person did not use the force in self-defense . . . .
{¶ 32} A self-defense claim under
“(1) that the defendant was not at fault in creating the situation giving rise to the affray; (2) that the defendant had a bona fide belief that he [or she] was in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that his [or her] only means of escape from such danger was in the use of such force; and (3) that the defendant did not violate any duty to retreat or avoid the danger.”
State v. Messenger, 2022-Ohio-4562, ¶ 14, quoting State v. Barnes, 94 Ohio St.3d 21, 24 (2002).
{¶ 33} This court recently summarized a defendant‘s burden of production in this context:
Defendants are required to present qualitative, legally sufficient evidence supporting each element of self-defense before the State‘s burden of persuasion under
R.C. 2901.05(B)(1) is triggered. Palmer at ¶ 19, quoting Messenger at ¶ 19, 25. A defendant‘s burden of production is satisfied when “the defendant‘s evidence and any reasonable inferences about that evidence would allow a rational trier of fact to find all the elements of a self-defense claim when viewed in the light most favorable to the defendant.”Id. at ¶ 20, quotingid. at ¶ 22, 25 (“This burden of production is ‘not a heavy one and . . . might even be satisfied through the State‘s own evidence.‘“). Only adequacy is considered when determining whether evidence is sufficient, persuasiveness is not: “The question is not whether the evidence should be believed but whether the evidence, if believed, could convince a trier of fact, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant was acting in
self-defense.” (Emphasis omitted.)
Id. at ¶ 21, citing Disciplinary Counsel v. Smith, 152 Ohio St. 3d 337, 2017-Ohio-9087, ¶ 23, 96 N.E.3d 234, and Messenger at ¶ 25-26.
Bell, 2025-Ohio-2526, at ¶ 22 (8th Dist.). The elements of self-defense are cumulative; self-defense is therefore inapplicable to a defendant who fails to satisfy any one element. State v. Jackson, 22 Ohio St.3d 281, 284 (1986). “In Palmer, the Ohio Supreme Court specifically held that trial courts do not err when they require defendants to present legally sufficient evidence for all elements of self-defense before affording them self-defense jury instructions.” Bell at ¶ 22.
{¶ 34} Here, as in Bell, our analysis “begins and ends with the affirmative defense‘s first element: that the defendant was not at fault in creating the situation giving rise to the affray.” Bell at ¶ 23. After viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to appellant and considering only its adequacy — in other words, crediting appellant‘s own testimony and setting aside any considerations of weight or credibility — we find that appellant‘s self-defense claim was not supported by sufficient evidence.
{¶ 35} To determine whether a defendant was “at fault” in a self-defense scenario, courts assess, “in essence, whether the defendant was the initial aggressor.” State v. Gillis, 2024-Ohio-726, ¶ 152 (8th Dist.), quoting State v. Gardner, 2022-Ohio-381, ¶ 25 (8th Dist.). “This concept is broader than simply not being the immediate aggressor. A person may not provoke an assault or voluntarily enter an encounter and then claim a right of self-defense.” (Emphasis added.) State v. Gaston, 2013-Ohio-2331, ¶ 16 (8th Dist.), quoting State v. Nichols, 2002-Ohio-
{¶ 36} Appellant testified that the victim started their verbal argument on Roanoke, after which the two went back and forth trading insults and threats. Giving full credit to that testimony, however, the threats made by the victim — even those referencing appellant being stabbed — were purely verbal. Appellant nevertheless voluntarily entered the encounter, not only choosing to confront the victim but also introducing deadly force by drawing a semiautomatic firearm, racking the slide, and leveling his gun at the victim. According to appellant‘s own testimony, the victim had not displayed a knife. Appellant and the victim were walking in the same direction down Roanoke, but appellant did not testify that the victim was following him or moved in his direction. Video footage plainly shows the victim on the south sidewalk, away from appellant and continuing his eastbound trajectory.
{¶ 38} This case contrasts with State v. Mitchell, 2023-Ohio-2604 (1st Dist.), in which the First District reversed a jury verdict rejecting the defendant‘s claim of self-defense. The court engaged in substantial discussion of the “at fault” element. Security video depicted the defendant with his hands to his side when the victim “took out his knife and thrusted it at him, prompting [defendant] to draw his gun.” Id. at ¶ 21. The court found “that this critical development supports the position that [the victim], rather than [defendant], bore responsibility for commencing the affray.”
{¶ 39} Here, unlike Mitchell, appellant‘s own testimony suggested he was the party who escalated a verbal confrontation by advancing on the victim, drawing his
{¶ 40} The trial court was well within its discretion in concluding that by closing distance, pointing his firearm, and racking the slide at a victim who continued to stay on the opposite sidewalk and walked away from him, appellant had failed to produce sufficient evidence to satisfy the first element of self-defense. See Bell, 2025-Ohio-2526, at ¶ 25 (8th Dist.) (affirming denial of self-defense instruction because defendant “voluntarily entered an encounter with [his neighbor]
{¶ 41} In this case, as in State v. Smith, 2024-Ohio-2811 (8th Dist.), “[t]he video suggests that had appellant not advanced toward and confronted the victim, no violence would have ensued.” Id. at ¶ 12. We recognize that in Smith, unlike here, the jury received a self-defense instruction and deliberated accordingly. This court‘s observation in Smith is nevertheless instructive, especially when we review the video footage of the fatal confrontation in light of appellant‘s own testimony. Even accepting appellant at his word, nothing suggests that violence would have ensued had appellant not moved toward and confronted the victim with a deadly weapon. Instead, the appellant‘s own testimony confirmed that he advanced on and engaged in wrongful conduct toward the victim, thereby provoking attack. Gaston, 2013-Ohio-2331, at ¶ 16 (8th Dist.).4
{¶ 42} Appellant was required to present legally sufficient evidence for all three self-defense elements to receive a corresponding jury instruction. On this record, the trial court did not act unreasonably, arbitrarily, or unconscionably when it found that appellant failed to satisfy his burden of production on the first element.
{¶ 43} Judgment affirmed.
It is ordered that appellee recover from appellant costs herein taxed.
The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the common pleas court to carry this judgment into execution. The defendant‘s convictions having been affirmed, any bail pending appeal is terminated. Case remanded to the trial court for execution of sentence.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
DEENA R. CALABRESE, JUDGE
EILEEN A. GALLAGHER, A.J., and MICHAEL JOHN RYAN, J., CONCUR