State v. Rhodes

This case requires us to decide whether a defendant on trial for murder bears the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that he was “under the influence of sudden passion or in a sudden fit of rage, *617either of which was brought on by serious provocation occasioned by the victim that * * * [was] reasonably sufficient to incite the * * * [defendant] into using deadly force * * * ” — the mitigating circumstances of R.C. 2903.-03(A) — , in order for a jury to find the defendant guilty of voluntary manslaughter rather than murder. In order to understand the import of the issue…