A judge correctly refused to instruct a jury on self-defense in the trial of a man convicted of the murder of one of his party guests because the defendant didn’t clearly testify that he was afraid for his life or ...

Tagged with: self-defense

Holding: We affirm the Court of Appeals’ decision (If a defendant fires a gun as a means to repel a deadly attack, the defendant is not entitled to a self-defense instruction if he testifies that he did not intend to ...

Tagged with: self-defense

Holding: Although defendant testified that he thought the victim had retrieved a gun with which to shoot defendant and that defendant shot the victim in self-defense, the state’s evidence showed that the unarmed victim (1) told defendant to get out ...

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State v. Cook (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-184-17, 18 pp.) (Chris Dillon, J.) (Hunter Murphy, J., concurring) (Donna Stroud, J., dissenting) Appealed from Mecklenburg County Superior Court (Hugh Lewis, J.) N.C. App. Holding: If a defendant fires a gun as a ...

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State v. Bass (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-171-17, 44 pp.) (John Tyson, J.) (Wanda Bryant, J., dissenting) Appealed from Wake County Superior Court (Paul Ridgeway, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Even though defendant was not in his home, vehicle or workplace when ...

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State v. Lee (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-273-16, 35 pp.) (Linda McGee, C.J.) Appealed from Pasquotank County Superior Court (J. Carlton Cole, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Since defendant was not in his own dwelling, place of business or on his own ...

Tagged with: self-defense Stand your ground

LOS ANGELES (AP) — On paper, the evidence in the murder case against Marion “Suge” Knight looks strong: Prosecutors have a surviving witness, video of the former rap music mogul running over two men and Knight’s history of violence and ...

Tagged with: murder self-defense

State v. Hinnant (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-07-0028, 13 pp.) (Chris Dillon, J.) Appealed from Nash County Superior Court (Quentin Sumner, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Defendant testified that he was only firing warning shots when one of those shots struck and ...

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State v. Vaughn Even though defendant was angry that Shawn Pressley had beaten and injured her, she was also concerned for her friend, Latisha Kenney, with whom Pressley was arguing, when defendant got out of the safety of her car, carrying a knife. Pressley charged defendant, and she stabbed him. Since there was no evidence that defendant was the aggressor, the trial court plainly erred when it instructed the jury that self-defense is justified only if the defendant is not the aggressor.

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State v. Sessoms Although defendant raised the issue of self-defense and thereby challenged whether prosecuting witness John Griffin was actually a victim, the trial court’s reference to Mr. Griffin as “the victim” did not rise to the level of plain error in light of the evidence, which showed that defendant came to Mr. Griffin’s house, got out of his van, and cut Mr. Griffin with a machete while Mr. Griffin had no weapon of his own.

Tagged with: self-defense