State v. Ellis

OPINION

PICKARD, Judge.

{1} Defendant was convicted of aggravated assault upon a peace officer contrary to NMSA 1978, § 30-22-22 (1971), based on threatening the officer with a tire tool. On appeal, Defendant argues that his conviction should be reversed because the district court failed to properly instruct the jury with regard to his self-defense claim. The State concedes that the district court erred by failing to properly instruct the jury, but argues that the error was harmless because Defendant was not entitled to a self-defense instruction in the first place. We hold that the district…