Retrial soon for man convicted in Miamisburg student’s death
Court overturns conviction due to wrong jury instructions on self-defense.
MIAMISBURG — A retrial starts Monday for a 34-yearold man after his murder conviction was overturned in the December 2018 death of a Miamisburg High School student.
Chaz Mitchell Gillilan of St. Clairsville in Cochocton County was sentenced in June 2021 to 30 years to life in prison after a Montgomery County jury found him guilty of murder, felonious assault, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, possession of criminal tools, tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability.
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.
“Because we conclude that the error was not harmless, the trial court’s judgment must be reversed, and the case will be remanded for a new trial,” the ruling stated.
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.”
Kinser’s girlfriend testified that during the incident two masked men burst into the room and pointed guns at Kinser and her. Forensic evidence was more consistent with the girlfriend’s testimony, prosecutors said, because there were bullets recovered from a third gun.
Prosecutors also said Gillilan’s claim of self-defense was not credible because he lied to police, he did not tell the driver of the car that took him from the scene what happened and he told the driver to get rid of the car, according to court documents.
Three other men were convicted in connection to Kinser’s death.
Jason B. Churchill, 36, of Moraine and Daniel M. Simone, 32, of Englewood each were sentenced in October 2021 to 11 years in prison after they pleaded guilty to complicity to commit involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and having weapons while under disability. Churchill is incarcerated in the Mansfield Correctional Institution, and Simone is in the Pickaway Correctional Institution, according to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction.
Dante K. English, 34, of Cincinnati was sentenced in November 2021 to two years in prison after pleading guilty to arson and tampering with evidence. He has since been released, records show.
Gillilan is held in the Montgomery County Jail.