State v. Jackson (Slip Opinion)

{¶ 1} This is a death-penalty appeal as of right. A jury convicted the defendant-appellant, Nathaniel Jackson, of the aggravated murder of Robert Fingerhut, with two death-penalty specifications. Jackson was sentenced to death. This court affirmed Jackson’s convictions and the death sentence on direct appeal. State v. Jackson, 107 Ohio St.3d 300, 2006-Ohio-1, 839 N.E.2d 362.

{¶ 2} During a subsequent appeal from the trial court’s denial of Jackson’s motion for a new trial, the Eleventh District Court of Appeals vacated the death sentence, holding that the trial judge’s use of the assistant…