HILLSBORO, Ohio — A jury has found former Highland County Sheriff's Deputy Jonathan Malone not guilty of reckless homicide for the fatal shooting of a Hillsboro man.
A chorus of applause erupted inside the courtroom once the jury was escorted out for the last time and family and fellow law enforcement were able to embrace Malone.
"When you're used to doing good things, taking care of people and then you're put on the hot seat for allegedly doing something wrong, it takes a toll and I think it did on him," Malone's defense attorney Rob Merkle said. "I think a lot of weight was lifted."
Malone was charged in March, eight months after the shooting on July 17, 2022, when Richard Poulin, 58, from Hillsboro, was shot and killed by a Highland County Sheriff's deputy.
"We are pleased with the verdict. We think it's important when the jury looks at the actions of law enforcement officers and understands when they act reasonably," Malone's lead defense attorney Joshua Engel said.
Jurors listened to two days of testimony, including that from fellow deputies working that night, self defense experts and from Malone himself.
When asked what he felt was the most crucial, Engel said it was testimony the jury didn't hear.
"What was missing was that no one from the State said that Dustin Malone did anything wrong," he said.
He said that strengthened his argument that Malone followed protocol that night, a counter to the prosecution's claim that the way the former road supervisor handled the situation was reckless.
Police allege Poulin refused to stop after deputies tried to pull him over for a traffic violation at around 2 a.m. that morning, the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation said. At one point, deputies said they used stop sticks in an attempt to stop Poulin's vehicle.
Eventually, he was shot and killed near 5760 U.S. 62 in Hillsoboro.
Previously, only Malone's attorney provided additional information on the shooting while BCI and Highland County law enforcement did not release much information about the shooting or the events that led up to it.
But during opening statements, Special Prosecutor Chris Kinsler addressed the jury, telling them police pursued Poulin for 13 minutes, during which multiple attempts to immobilize Poulin's pickup truck with stop sticks were made.
The chase finally ended when Poulin's tires were shredded off the rims, but he continued to ignore orders to get out of his car — even turning up his radio and rolling up the windows, Kinsler said.
Kinsler claimed that Malone, along with other deputies, approached the car with his gun drawn. After one deputy failed to break the passenger side window with the butt of his gun, Malone walked over to the driver side window and began hitting it with his baton, Kinsler said.
The baton was in his right hand and the gun in his left hand, Kinsler said, but as he hit the vehicle with the baton a second time, his gun went off and a bullet hit Poulin in the neck.
"The defendant's conduct and the way he handled the situation was reckless and it led to the death of Richard Poulin. Richard Poulin didn't need to die. Richard Poulin was not armed. None of the officers perceived a threat sufficient that they felt the need to use deadly force in self defense," Kinsler said to the jury.
If convicted, Malone would have faced up to three years in prison and would be prohibited from possessing a gun.
When asked what's next for Malone, his attorneys said he may one day return to law enforcement.
"I think at the moment he said, 'I will not go back on the road again' I think that's too stressful for him to go back on the road," Engel said.
"The jury's still out on that," Merkle said.
