State v. Pulliam

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The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals affirming the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of attempted voluntary manslaughter, second-degree murder, and criminal possession of a firearm, holding that the district judge erred by failing to instruct the jury on imperfect self-defense involuntary manslaughter but that the error did not require reversal.On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial judge erred by not instructing the jury on a theory of imperfect self-defense involuntary manslaughter as a lesser included crime for the charge of second-degree murder. The Court of Appeals rejected the claim, ruling that such an instruction was not factually inappropriate. The Supreme Court affirmed but on different grounds, holding that the trial judge’s error in failing to instruct the jury on imperfect self-defense involuntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense of second-degree murder was not clear error. View "State v. Pulliam" on Justia Law