Zama v. State

Appellant, Dezman Zama, was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. We reverse for a new trial because the trial court, in response to a question from the jury, gave an erroneous instruction by expanding on the fear element of assault.

Appellant was on trial for attempted second degree murder. His defense was that, after being forcibly escorted out of a nightclub by security personnel, he acci-dently shot his gun into the club, not realizing the safety was off. Appellant told police during an interview that he intended to fire at the ground, to scare off the security personnel…