United States v. Yabut

Opinion of the Court

Quinn, Chief Judge:

A general court-martial convicted the accused of unpremeditated murder. On this appeal he challenges the correctness of part of the law officer’s instructions on self-defense.

The accused was a steward aboard the U.S.S. FURSE. He shared a berthing compartment with Commissary-man First Class Gerald A. McCarthy and several other crewmen. About 1:00 a.m., November 6, 1968, he and McCarthy separately returned to the ship from liberty. They met in the compartment. As the result of an altercation between them, described differently by Government witnesses and *394th…