State v. Harkins

NORWIN D. HOUSER, Special Judge.

Richard Glen Harkins was convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to life imprisonment. His sole point on appeal is that “[t]he trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on the issue of self-defense because there was substantial evidence in support thereof.”

On a public street in the City of St. Louis at about 2:45 a. m. on June 16,1972 Michael Short was shot and killed by a shotgun blast. Returning home after a work shift Michael parked on the north side of the street, across from his house, and walked to the south curb. There he was…