Richards v. State

ALTENBERND, Judge.

John Rynell Richards, the Defendant, appeals his judgment and sentence for attempted murder in the second degree. He argues that the trial court improperly used an outdated jury instruction concerning his defense of the justifiable use of deadly force and that, accordingly, it committed an error when it told jurors he had a duty to retreat before using deadly force. The State concedes that the instruction was improper. We agree that the use of the outdated instruction was an error in this case. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

In October 2007, the Defendant was in a…