The Supreme Court of Ohio's decision on the impact of a trial judge’s misstatement about Ohio’s self-defense law and a pretrial ruling not to give a self-defense jury instruction is the latest “Featured Decision” video.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court affirmed Demarco Gowdy’s conviction for aggravated assault stemming from a 2023 shooting at a McDonald’s parking lot in Cincinnati. The Court found that the trial judge’s errors did not rise to the level necessary to set aside Gowdy’s guilty plea. Gowdy argued to the Supreme Court that the judge coerced him into pleading guilty by prematurely deciding not to give a self-defense jury instruction. This decision, Gowdy maintained, violated his constitutional rights. The Court disagreed.