Matthew Nicholson was convicted and put on death row for the 2018 murders of Giselle Lopez, 19, and Manuel Lopez Jr., 17, in Garfield Heights.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The death sentence of a Garfield Heights armed security guard convicted of shooting and killing his girlfriend’s two children should be vacated because the jury wasn’t given complete instructions about conviction options, an attorney for the man argued before the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday.
“This case provides this court with an opportunity to address a legal question that involves a dispute between districts, a legal question that courts throughout Ohio need guidance on,” Tyack said. “And that’s the legal question…relating to the bright line rule in Cuyahoga County relating to the inability to receive both a self-defense instruction and a voluntary manslaughter instruction in any kind of murder prosecution. This is an important question.
Giselle then arrived home. Polanco told her that Nicholson was going to kill them. Nicholson went upstairs to retrieve a gun, as Manuel called 911. Giselle and Manuel then went outside into the driveway, which Nicholson believed was because they were going to get the gun from his car, Tyack said.in October 2019 that Nicholson be sentenced to death. The judge agreed with the jury.The state has argued that jury instruction on voluntary manslaughter and self-defense was improper.
Justice Patrick Fischer noted that despite the self-defense claims, Nicholson emptied his gun when shooting at Giselle and Manuel. Manuel was hit eight times. Giselle was struck four times and her backpack was hit once.“Well, it was a semi-automatic weapon,” Tyack said. “It was fired rapidly, that’s true.”
Cuyahoga County Assistant Prosecutor Brandon Piteo, however, asked the Ohio Supreme Court to uphold the conviction.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
New Pac Heights restaurant coming from SPQR Chef Matthew Accarrino - San Francisco Business TimesA Michelin-starred chef has a new concept coming to the former site of Charles Phan's Out the Door.
Read more »
27 TV Shows From 2022 That A Lot Of People Loved, But If You Didn’t, You Need To Watch Them In 2023I'm absolutely blown away by Andrew Garfield's performance in Under the Banner of Heaven.
Read more »
Garfield Ridge residents warned after series of car break-insSeveral cars were broken into Tuesday morning in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood on Chicago's Southwest Side.
Read more »
Cleveland Heights man heads Damar Hamlin’s FundMarc Pollick watched as the world witnessed Damar Hamlin collapse on the field. Just days after that chilling moment, he got an important call.
Read more »