State v. Mitchell

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Abbott, J.:

This is a direct appeal by the defendant, Victor R. Mitchell, Jr., from his convictions for two counts of intentional second-degree murder for the deaths of brothers Jeff and Randy Hobaugh.

Mitchell claims the trial court erred in failing to give a voluntary manslaughter instruction and in giving an instruction that the jury “should not” consider Mitchell’s refusal to testify rather than “must not”; he also claims prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument.

During the week of April 15, 1998, the Hobaughs made plans to burglarize Mitchell’s…