Commonwealth v. Deagle

The convictions of both defendants of assault must be reversed because of the refusal of the trial judge to instruct the jury on the burden of proof on the issue of self-defense.

A jury found Stephen Deagle and Joseph Gibson guilty on so much of separate indictments charging armed robbery as alleged simple assaults on Dana B. Reis. An examination of the evidence, viewed as it must be in this type of case, in the light most favorable to the defendants, Commonwealth v. Monico, 373 Mass. 298, 299-300 (1977); Commonwealth v. Harrington, 379 Mass. 446, 450 (1980), reveals the following scenario.

It…