State v. Allen

EXUM, Justice.

We allowed defendant’s petition for discretionary review to consider the following question: Whether the trial court commit ted reversible error by instructing the jury in this armed robbery case that: “The term ‘dangerous weapon’ also includes pistols which look like firearms such as cap pistols. An instrument is a dangerous weapon if it is apparently a weapon capable of inflicting a life threatening injury.” We answer the question affirmatively and reverse the Court of Appeals.

The state’s evidence tended to show as follows: A black male wearing a ski mask entered the Quick…