State v. McMullen

Defendant was convicted of assault in the first degree and appeals, contending that the trial court erred in refusing to give his requested instruction on self-defense.

The charges arose out of an altercation between defendant and the victim, in the presence of several of the victim’s relatives. Defendant stabbed the victim with a pocketknife. There was conflicting evidence as to what precipitated the stabbing. Defendant testified that the victim was the aggressor. He claimed that before he used his knife, the victim hit him over the head with a chair and was on top of him, on the floor,…