Stewart v. State

ALTENBERND, Judge.

Sean Christopher Stewart appeals his judgments and sentences for second-degree murder and aggravated assault. The trial court read an incorrect instruction regarding the forcible felony exception to justifiable use of deadly force. Although this error was not preserved, under the circumstances of this case and the applicable precedent, we conclude that the error qualifies as a fundamental error warranting a new trial.

The events resulting in these charges arose out of a party that Mr. Stewart attended at a house in Tampa on the evening of December 1, 2007. The people at the…