State v. Shah

This is a review of an unpublished decision of the court of appeals filed December 26, 1985, reversing a judgment of conviction of the circuit court for Milwaukee county, Ralph G. Gorenstein, Judge. The jury found the defendant guilty of second degree murder.

The issue presented on review is whether the instruction given to the jury on circumstantial evidence shifted the burden of persuasion regarding the defendant’s claim of self-defense or imperfect self-defense to the defendant. The court of appeals concluded that the instruction erroneously shifted the burden to the defendant and ordered a…