Judge rules against acquittal or new trial for man convicted of killing Uber driver

A jury found him guilty Jan. 14 of three counts of murder and single counts of felonious assault and kidnapping in the death of 61-year-old Lo-Letha “Letha” Toland-Hall of Dublin in suburban Columbus. She was shot six times around 11:20 a.m. March 25, 2024, in the driveway of Brock’s house in the 7000 block of South Charleston-Clifton Road in Madison Twp. and later died in surgery at a Kettering hospital.

Brock’s attorney Jon Paul Rion filed a motion Jan. 20 calling jury instructions “fatally flawed” in the case against the lifelong farmer, who was the victim of a sophisticated scam demanding he pay $12,000 in cash.

A response from Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kadawni Scott claimed arguments in the motion had “fatal flaws” and said: “This Court should not give defense counsel the opportunity to have another bite of the apple.”

In Rastatter’s ruling, he wrote that the sole issue during the three-day trial was whether Brock, the victim of an ongoing scam, acted in self-defense when he caused Hall’s death.

It was undisputed at trial that Hall drove up to Brock’s house, parked there and remained in her car for about 20 minutes before she got out unarmed and walked toward the attached and covered porch; that Brock brandished a firearm and pointed it at Hall, who retreated and walked back to her car at gunpoint; and that Brock shot Hall multiple times as he was slowly advancing on her on foot and she was slowly retreating on foot, both circling her car parked on the driveway, the judge wrote.

The defense did not object to jury instructions beforehand, but after trial Rion filed a motion that the castle doctrine applied when Hall entered the attached and covered doctrine because the porch falls within the definition of residence and dwelling under Ohio Revised Code, meaning Brock was presumed to have acted in self-defense, according to court documents.

“In this case, the defendant used deadly force, not while Loletha Hall was inside the residence or in the process of entering it, but when she was unmistakenly outside the residence, retreating from it, and no longer posing a risk of death or great bodily harm to him. The Court finds that this fact negates the application of the castle doctrine because the defendant used deadly force after the home invasion, or threat thereof, had ceased. The window of time within which the castle doctrine applied had ceased,” Rastatter wrote. “Although the castle doctrine does not cover the facts of this case, the jury was not prohibited from concluding that the defendant acted in self-defense.”

Brock is in the Clark County Jail, where he has been held since Rastatter revoked his bond following his conviction.