State v. Ireland (Slip Opinion)

{¶ 69} The lead opinion wants it both ways, arguing that the state bears the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed the offense of felonious assault with a voluntary act while the accused bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence and as an affirmative defense that the same act was involuntary because the accused lacked consciousness. The proper analysis, however, begins and ends with the elements of the offense: once it is determined that voluntariness-and therefore consciousness-is an element of felonious assault, the state retains the…