Burton v. United States

A jury convicted appellant of malicious disfigurement while armed, aggravated assault while armed, and simple assault, all arising from injuries he inflicted on 66-year-old Myrtle Mackey. Appellant contends chiefly that the trial judge erroneously failed to instruct the jury on malice as an element of malicious disfigurement. It is true that in Perkins v. United States, 446 A.2d 19 (D.C.1982), the court listed as one of the elements of “the proper instruction for malicious disfigurement” whether “the defendant was acting with malice.” Id. at 26. In Comber v. United States, 584 A.2d 26…