He is charged with shooting the person he intended to shoot, and the innocent bystander. Admits to unintentionally hitting the innocent bystander, claims self defense on the other charge.
Some things from the article:
Standing trial for murder in the deaths of both men, Thomas scored a victory Tuesday when Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman dismissed two aggravated murder charges against him on a motion by his defense attorneys.
Pittman ruled there was no evidence to show Thomas acted “with prior calculation and design” on Jan. 7 when he shot and killed both gunman Brian Brack and innocent bystander Austin Tiller.
Four counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault remain in play for jurors, who will begin deliberating Wednesday following closing arguments.
In Ohio, he got his concealed carry weapons permit and bought a .380-caliber handgun. A small handgun, “if I glued it to (my palm) you wouldn’t be able to see it,” he testified.
Some of the partiers smoked marijuana, drank wine coolers, listened to music and played with Tiller’s virtual reality goggles.
Thomas testified he “fired as fast as he could to stop (Brack),” emptying his gun and ran into a back bedroom.Thomas chambered a round, leaned to his left and began to get up as Brack fired a shot next to his head.
Earlier testimony showed three of Thomas’ shots entered Tiller’s back, while two more struck Dixon in the leg. Brack died of a gunshot wound to the chest in the hallway outside the apartment. One of the two shots he fired hit Thomas’ TV, while another hit Tiller in the leg.
The person that told me about this story offered the opinion that if the defender hadn't had a small 380, that he might've hit the alleged attacker without hitting the innocent victim. I'm not so sure about that. There are a lot of pertinent facts that I didn't find in this source.On cross examination by Assistant Portage County Prosecutor Eugene Muldowney, Thomas said Tiller was an innocent bystander.
“But he’s dead, because you pulled the trigger? Three times, three separate bullets went in his back, didn’t they?” Muldowney asked. “Yes,” Thomas replied.
His eyesight challenged by the prosecutor, Thomas said he was able to see Brack’s gun at the doorway because he “saw a strange man standing there behind (Dixon), so I looked at him.”
“I have a perfect view of the doorway from where I’m sitting” in the apartment, Thomas testified. “After I saw a gun, I reached for my gun.”
Uniformed police usually carry full size handguns, yet there have been cases where innocent people have been hit in a shooting exchange. Also, it sounds like he was carrying chamber empty when the alleged attack started, and said he fired as fast as he could. Did he even aim the .380? It occurred in a room, but what was the actual distance involved? Also, there was no mention whether the defendant used drugs or alcohol or not, only that they were used by some at the party.