Owens v. Commonwealth

DAVIS, Commissioner.

Leonard Charles Owens was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to imprisonment for twenty-one years for slaying Lonnie Green Marcum on September 8, 1967. Owens was defended by court-appointed counsel who have perfected this appeal for him, asserting (1) that the court erred in failing to admonish the jury as to the effect of impeachment testimony and (2) that the instructions given were erroneous.

Owens admitted shooting Marcum but claimed that the fatal shot was fired accidentally while defending himself from an unprovoked assault made on him by one Carroll…