State v. Barnes

This cause presents two questions: first, whether a defendant who asserts self-defense may introduce evidence of specific instances of conduct by the victim to show that the victim was the initial aggressor, and second, whether the trial court committed plain error when it instructed the jury that felonious assault with a deadly weapon is a lesser included offense of attempted murder. We answer both questions in the negative.

I

While attending a party in Kent, Ohio, the appellee, Marcus Barnes, became involved in an argument with other partygoers. The argument escalated into a physical…