Ex Parte Pope

Petitioner, Robert Heath Pope, was convicted of assault in the second degree and was sentenced to serve a term of three years in the state penitentiary. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction, without opinion. 541 So.2d 86. We issued our writ of certiorari to review the following issues:

I. Whether the trial court improperly limited the petitioner's cross-examination of a state witness.

II. Whether the trial court erred in refusing to give the following instructions in its charge to the jury:

A) An instruction regarding circumstantial evidence;

B) An instruction regarding self…