State v. LeFaber

Victor LeFaber appeals the judgment on a verdict of guilty of first degree manslaughter. He contends relevant evidence was improperly excluded; the State failed to prove absence of self-defense; and the jury instructions misstated the law on self-defense, failed to allocate the burden of proof on that issue to the State, and included a prejudicial instruction on intoxication.

Mr. LeFaber and Alice Letts met Evan Stephens in the summer of 1989. Mr. Stephens was looking for work as a carpenter and they hired him to work on a log home they were building. During the time Mr. Stephens was working…