State v. Branchal

OPINION

NEAL, Judge.

This is a homicide case. The evidence details a stormy six-year relationship which ended when the defendant fired a single bullet into the victim’s chest, killing him. Our concern is with the denial of a self-defense instruction.

Originally tried on an open charge of murder, the defendant was acquitted of first and second degree murder. The jury could not agree on voluntary manslaughter and a mistrial was declared. On retrial on the voluntary manslaughter charge defendant claimed self-defense as she had done at the first trial. The court ruled that there was insufficient…