State v. Oliphant

Summary

The Ohio Third District Court of Appeals affirmed Michael L. Oliphant’s convictions and sentence arising from shootings in Allen County, Ohio. The court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by removing a juror who had solicited and accepted cigarettes from the defendant’s family, by giving a consciousness-of-guilt instruction, or by rejecting Oliphant’s argument that the jury’s rejection of his insanity defense was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Holdings

1. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by removing Juror 5 after discovering that the juror deliberately solicited and accepted cigarettes from members of the defendant's family while serving on the jury.
2. The trial court did not err by giving a consciousness-of-guilt instruction because sufficient evidence supported an inference that Oliphant fled and discarded the firearm and other items to avoid the consequences of the offenses, and the instruction was neutral and permissive rather than unfairly prejudicial.
3. Oliphant's convictions were not against the manifest weight of the evidence because the jury reasonably could credit the State's expert over the defense expert and conclude that Oliphant understood the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the offenses.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by removing Juror 5 during trial and seating an alternate juror.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by instructing the jury on consciousness of guilt based on Oliphant's departure from the shooting scenes and disposal of the firearm and other items.
3. Whether the jury's rejection of Oliphant's not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity defense was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Disposition

affirmed