State v. Barrett

The opinion of the court was delivered by Stegall, J.:

This is a tragic case of severe mental illness. In 2008, Howard Barrett attacked and killed a man who entered his apartment to exterminate bugs. The evidence at trial showed that Barrett suffered from schizophrenia and felt irrationally threatened by the victim. The key question for the jury was whether Barrett's mental condition precluded him from forming a culpable mental state.

In this appeal, Barrett argues the district court committed reversible error when it denied his request for an instruction on imperfect self-defense voluntary…