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Criminal Practice – Voluntary Manslaughter – Jury Instructions – Defense of Habitation – Curtilage

Teresa Bruno, Opinions Editor//July 9, 2018//

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Criminal Practice – Voluntary Manslaughter – Jury Instructions – Defense of Habitation – Curtilage

Criminal Practice – Voluntary Manslaughter – Jury Instructions – Defense of Habitation – Curtilage

Teresa Bruno, Opinions Editor//July 9, 2018//

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Despite numerous requests to leave and multiple orders from law enforcement, the decedent continued to return to defendant’s property while repeatedly threatening him with bodily harm. It is undisputed that the decedent was within the curtilage of defendant’s property – and therefore, within his home, G.S. § 14-51.2(a)(1) – when defendant used lethal defensive force against him. Accordingly, the trial court erred by denying defendant’s request for a jury instruction on the defense of habitation, N.C.P.I.-Crim. 308.80.

We reverse defendant’s conviction of and remand for a new trial.

State v. Kuhns (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-223-18, 13 pp.) (Ann Marie Calabria, J.) Appealed from Alexander County Superior Court (Julia Lynn Gullett, J.) Kimberly Potter for the state; Daniel Shatz for defendant. N.C. App.

 

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