Court Opinion

ID: 9471542
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:35:12.587543+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:27.372218
License: Public Domain

CONTIE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I believe the State of Ohio can constitutionally place the burden of proving self-defense upon the defendant in this case. I therefore concur in the majority opinion, but on different grounds. The petitioner was convicted under Ohio’s felony murder statute which, at the time of petitioner’s trial, provided that “[n]o person shall purposely cause the death of another while committing or attempting to commit, or while fleeing immediately after committing or attempting to commit ... aggravated robbery....” Ohio Rev.Code § 2903.01(B). The state was thus required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt (1) the death; (2) petitioner’s intent to kill; and (3) causation which must occur during or while fleeing from the commission or attempted commission of aggravated robbery.1 The statute does not presume that any element of the crime exists. Cf. Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684, 95 S.Ct. 1881, 44 L.Ed.2d 508 (1975).
The Supreme Court has recognized that once each element of an offense is established beyond a reasonable doubt, a state is *495not required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt every fact, the existence or nonexistence of which it is willing to recognize as an exculpatory or mitigating circumstance. Patterson v. New York, 432 U.S. 197, 206-07, 97 S.Ct. 2319, 2324-25, 53 L.Ed.2d 281 (1977); Leland v. Oregon, 343 U.S. 790, 795-96, 799, 72 S.Ct. 1002,1005-06, 1008, 96 L.Ed. 1302 (1952). In this case, the trial court correctly instructed the jury that the state was required to prove each element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. The court also indicated that petitioner’s affirmative defense constituted a separate issue which should be considered only if the jury first determined that the state had met its burden. In other words, petitioner’s affirmative defense did not serve to negate any elements of this offense. See State v. Poole, 33 Ohio St.2d 18, 19, 294 N.E.2d 888 (1973). Accordingly, once the prosecution has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally killed another person during or fleeing from the commission or attempted commission of aggravated robbery, I believe the State of Ohio can constitutionally place the burden of proving self-defense upon the defendant in a prosecution for felony murder under Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.01(B).2 Patterson v. New York, 432 U.S. at 209-10, 97 S.Ct. at 2326-27; Carter v. Jago, 637 F.2d 449, 455-57 (6th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 980, 102 S.Ct. 2249, 72 L.Ed.2d 856 (1982); State v. Poole, 33 Ohio St.2d at 19, 294 N.E.2d 888.

. Malice aforethought is not an element of felony murder in Ohio. See Ohio Rev.Code § 2903.01(B).

. That the Supreme Court in Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. 107, 122, 102 S.Ct. 1558, 1568, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982) referred to petitioner’s due process argument as stating “a plausible constitutional claim” indicates only that the Court would have been compelled to address this issue in the absence of a procedural bar. As a result, I disagree with the majority’s assertion that this statement “may cast doubt upon” the position that a state, once having proved the fundamental elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, may place the burden of proving self-defense upon the accused. See Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. 107, 137, 102 S.Ct. 1558, 1576, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982) (Stevens, J., concurring); Patterson v. New York, 432 U.S. 197, 206, 209-10, 97 S.Ct. 2319, 2324, 2326-27, 53 L.Ed.2d 281 (1977); Carter v. Jago, 637 F.2d 449, 456-57 (6th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 980, 102 S.Ct. 2249, 72 L.Ed.2d 856 (1982).