Brock’s attorney Jon Paul Rion filed a motion Jan. 20 calling jury instructions “fatally flawed” in the case against his client, who was the victim of a sophisticated scam demanding he pay $12,000 in cash.
“This Court should not give defense counsel the opportunity to have another bite of the apple,” the response filed by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kadawni Scott stated.
Brock claimed self-defense in Hall’s death after she unknowingly played a part in the scheme when she arrived at his house, saying she was there to collect a package.
During trial, Rion said Brock confronted Hall with a .22 caliber pistol and demanded she give him her cellphone because he believed Hall would use it to report to the scammers that she did not receive the money.
The prosecution in closing arguments said that if Hall did not cross the threshold into Brock’s residence that self-defense did not apply. However, Rion’s motion claimed the jury did not hear the definition of residence, and that “jury instructions were incomplete to the prejudice of Mr. Brock.”
Scott’s motion claimed there are “fatal flaws” with the defense’s arguments, including that the defense received Common Pleas Judge Douglas Rastatter’s proposed jury instructions on the third day of trial but did not object before the instructions were given to the jury.
The prosecution’s motion also stated there are conflicting statements about whether Hall entered the enclosed portion of the attached porch, and there are no images showing the porch area.
“Even if it were true that (Hall) came inside Brock’s house, when he chased her outside, walked her down the sidewalk and around the car at gunpoint, all the while she was pleading for her life, whatever protection he may have had from the ‘Castle Doctrine’ vanished,” Scott wrote.
The “Castle Doctrine” in Ohio states that a person has no duty to retreat before using force in self-defense, defense of another or defense of that person’s residence if that person has a lawful right to be in the place, according to Ohio Revised Code.
Credit: Springfield News Sun
A dashcam video from Hall’s black Acura shows her walking backward, yelling for help as Brock said he would shoot her leg if she did not give him her phone. He then shot her leg and reportedly tried to prevent her from leaving. At one point during a scuffle Hall closed the car door on Brock’s head, which led him to suffer lacerations requiring stitches to his head and ear, before he shot her further times.
Brock called 911 after shooting Hall multiple times.
Brock is in the Clark County Jail after Rastatter revoked his bond following the jury’s guilty verdict.
It is not clear when the judge will issue a ruling.
Brock also faces a wrongful death civil lawsuit, filed in March 2025 on behalf of Hall’s estate, which alleges Brock and the people scamming him are liable for Hall’s death.
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