On October 30, 2011, an armed group unlawfully entered the residence of Ohio resident Raymond Bushner. Despite requests from Raymond and the property lessee—his girlfriend at the time—to leave, the group refused to comply. Access to the residence was granted by an unauthorized individual, making the armed group trespassers. 

Their presence justified Raymond's defensive actions when one member of the group discharged a weapon within his home. It is troubling that Raymond received an 18-year sentence for acting to protect himself and others, especially given Ohio's "Castle Doctrine" and the more recent "Stand Your Ground" law, which affirm the right to self-defense in one’s own home.

During Raymond's jury trial in April 2012 at the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, Judge Judy Hunter erroneously instructed the jury to assess only Raymond's actions in determining the justifiability of his response. The correct approach, as outlined in 2 OJI CR 421.23, was to evaluate the actions of the individual(s) who intruded, as these contributed to his use of self-defense that night. The trial transcripts (pages 993-998) clearly document this critical error, which ultimately led to his wrongful conviction.

All of Raymond's appeals have been resolved, but each has been denied. A thorough review of his case will reveal significant errors in the jury instructions provided by Judge Judy Hunter.

According to Section 38 of Article 11 of the Ohio Constitution, her conduct during the trial constitutes misconduct in office.

Raymond is seeking awareness of these issues in the hope that it will lead to the vacating of his conviction and sentence, allowing him to be released under appropriate community control measures instead of continuing to serve an 18-year prison term for acts of self-defense.

We urge you to sign this petition in support of Raymond's case, which is currently under consideration by Summit County Court of Common Pleas Judge Christine Croce and Summit County Prosecutor Matthew S. Kuhn. Your support is vital for advocating the review of Raymond’s wrongful conviction due to the faulty jury instructions on self-defense given during his April 2012 trial.

Let us join together to bring Raymond home.