State v. Clark

MILLER, Justice:

Mazeo Clark was indicted for murder and convicted by a jury of voluntary manslaughter in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County. In urging reversal of his conviction, Clark’s primary contentions are that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not act in self-defense and that the evidence did not support either a first or second degree murder instruction. For the reasons that follow, we affirm his conviction.

It is undisputed that between 7:00 and 8:00 o’clock on the evening of August 16, 1981, Clark shot and killed Gabe Gibens near a vacant lot where…