State v. Ward

EXUM, Justice.

Defendant’s assignments of error challenge the admissibility of certain testimony offered by a ballistics expert on behalf of the state and the sufficiency of the trial court’s instructions to the jury. For errors in the jury instructions, we reverse and grant a new trial.

The state’s evidence tended to show that on 29 March 1979, the deceased, Joe Eddy White, was at the home of his parents watching television with his mother. White’s mother testified that around 9:30 p.m. she observed the lights of a vehicle pulling into the driveway and heard a horn blow. Joe Eddy went outside…