State v. Moniz

Following a bench trial, defendant, Joseph P. Moniz, was found guilty of second degree murder in violation of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-304 (Reissue 1985) and sentenced to life imprisonment. His three assignments of error raise two issues: (1) whether the killing was justifiable as having been committed in self-defense; and, if not, (2) whether the evidence supports a conviction for second degree murder. We affirm.

Defendant testified that he, an unemployed, disabled man suffering from back problems and emphysema, and decedent, Gerald Jump, a younger, robust individual, had been longtime *199friends…