State v. Hall

BURNETT, Judge.

On a Saturday night at a Rexburg bar, four men argued over relationships with a woman. Words turned to violence. The altercation spilled into a parking lot. Gunshots rang out. Two men fell dead; another lay critically wounded. The fourth man, Patrick Hall, was arrested and charged with first degree murder. Despite a claim of self-defense, a jury eventually found Hall guilty of second degree murder (two counts) and of aggravated battery. He has appealed.

We are asked to decide (1) whether excessive publicity denied Hall a fair trial; (2) whether the surviving victim should have…