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Prosecutors tell committee pretrial self‑defense hearing would create gamesmanship and confuse juries
Summary
The Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association opposed House Bill 108 at a House Judiciary Committee hearing, arguing the bill's pretrial self-defense procedure would let defendants call the state's witnesses prematurely, create duplicative mini-trials, and revive a confusing "rebuttable presumption" at odds with current burden-of-proof law.
Columbus — The Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association told the House Judiciary Committee it opposes House Bill 108, which would allow defendants who claim self defense to seek a mandatory pretrial hearing that, under the bill's text, could create a rebuttable presumption of self defense.
"The filing of the motion requires the court to hold a preponderance of the evidence that the accused person acted in self defense, the court must grant the pretrial motion, which establishes a rebuttable presumption of self defense,"…
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