Pace v. Commonwealth

CLAYTON, Justice.

The appellant, Lanorma Wooster Pace, was indicted for murder in the Harlan Circuit Court in connection with the March 1976 shooting death of her husband, Charles Pace. A jury of her peers found Lanorma guilty of the lesser included offense of first-degree manslaughter and sentenced her to 20 years’ imprisonment, the maximum penalty for that crime. See KRS 507.030, 532.-060(2)(b).

Lanorma contends here, among other things, that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on the law of self-defense. We agree, and for that reason reverse her conviction for a new trial.

Th…