Walters v. State

OPINION

Opinion by

Chief Justice MORRISS.

Brothers John Arlin Walters and Russell Walters had engaged in a decades-long battle over perceived entitlements to family property and feelings of maternal preference. That battle ended when John shot and killed Russell in a church parking lot in rural Hopkins County.

There has never been any question that John killed his brother. The pivotal question the jury needed to answer in determining John’s guilt or innocence was whether John acted in self-defense. 1 The jury found that John had not acted in self-defense, was therefore guilty of murder, and…