Johnson v. United States

Appellant, who was charged with first-degree murder while armed, D.C.Code 1981, §§ 22-2401, -3202, and carrying a pistol without a license, id., § 22-3204, was convicted, after a jury trial, of á lesser included offense, voluntary manslaughter while armed, and the weapons offense. He seeks to overturn these convictions on the ground that the trial court improperly excluded evidence of the decedent’s prior violent acts which was relevant to his theory of self-de fense. 1 Upon review of the matter, we find that the argument has some merit; we therefore reverse the conviction for manslaughter,…