State v. Daley

McKUSICK, Chief Justice.

Following a jury trial in Oxford County, defendant was convicted of the Class D crime of assault, 17-A M.R.S.A. § 207 (Supp.1981), and sentenced to 364 days in the Maine State Prison. His appeal challenges the Superior Court justice’s instructions to the jury on self-defense. Finding obvious error in that charge, we vacate the judgment of conviction and remand for further proceedings.

The assault at issue was described at trial in markedly different ways by the complainant, Ronald Murray, and defendant. Murray testified that he encountered defendant, a man he knew only…