Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Noah Kinser was shot and killed Dec. 30, 2018, during what Miamisburg police and prosecutors said was a home invasion at his North First Street apartment, during which Kinser’s 14-year-old girlfriend was shot and wounded.
The Second District Court of Appeals in Dayton overturned Gillilan’s conviction in February after ruling the trial court incorrectly instructed the jury on the self-defense burden of proof.
During the first trial, the defense argued that Gillilan was legally defending himself at the time of the shooting. They said Kinser was a drug dealer and fired at Gillilan first after a drug deal fell through.
The appellant court said the trial court erred by instructing the jury that Gillilan had the burden of proving that he had acted in self-defense.
In 2019, Ohio law changed to shift the burden of proof of self-defense “from the defendant to the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused did not use force in self-defense.”
Kinser was killed in December 2018, before the amendment to the law took effect. However, the Ohio Supreme Court determined the burden of proof applies to all trials on or after March 28, 2019, even if the offenses occurred before then, according to the ruling.
Prosecutors unsuccessfully argued that evidence against Gillilan was “so overwhelming that no reasonable juror could have found in Gillilan’s favor regardless of who bore the burden of proof.”
Gillilan is held in the Montgomery County Jail.
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