State v. Barrett

by
The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals ruling that the district court's error in denying Defendant's request for an instruction on imperfect self-defense voluntary manslaughter was harmless, holding that the error was reversible because there was a reasonable probability that it affected the trial's outcome.Defendant, who had schizophrenia, killed a man who entered his apartment to exterminate bugs because he felt irrationally threatened by the victim. At issue during trial was whether Defendant's mental condition precluded him from forming a culpable mental state. The jury found Defendant guilty of reckless second-degree murder. The court of appeals affirmed, holding that the district court erred when it failed to give a voluntary manslaughter instruction - an intentional killing done with the unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed justifying the deadly force - but that the instructional error was harmless under the so-called "skip rule." The Supreme Court reversed and remanded for a new trial, holding that the trial court's error in failing to give an imperfect self-defense voluntary manslaughter instruction was reversible because the jury could have reasonably convicted Defendant of voluntary manslaughter. View "State v. Barrett" on Justia Law