State v. Bongalis

MILLER, Justice:

The defendant, George Bongalis, appeals his conviction of second degree murder in the Circuit Court of Boone County. He assigns as error: (1) that the evidence shows no malice and, therefore, cannot support a second degree murder conviction; (2) that his self-defense instruction was rejected; and (3) that one member of the jury was a convicted felon. He further assigns several evidentiary errors.

The defendant killed a Mike Hendricks as a result of an altercation with him in front of a bar. The State sought to show that the defendant had a romantic involvement with Ronda…