Johnson v. State

Hunt, Justice.

Gary Johnson was convicted for the murder of Deborah Nelson and the aggravated assault of Lamar Smallwood and Robert Moncus. He received a life sentence for the murder charge and 20 years imprisonment for each of the assault charges. He appeals, enumerating as error the trial court’s charge on self-defense and the trial court’s failure to charge the law of involuntary manslaughter.

The evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, showed the following. The victims, Nelson, Smallwood and Moncus, had celebrated the birthday of another friend, Patricia Cook,…