State v. Ash

The issue before the court is whether in the criminal trial of the defendant, Eric Ash, the trial court’s misstatement of law on the duty to retreat under the self-defense statute, General Statutes § 53a-19,1 was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The *486defendant was convicted, after a jury trial, of manslaughter in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-55 (a) (l). 2 The defendant appealed that conviction to the Appellate Court, claiming that the trial court’s jury instructions had contained misstatements about the duty to retreat and that these misstatements, in light of the…