State v. Tuttle

ZIMMERMAN, Justice:

Defendant Wesley Allen Tuttle appeals from a jury conviction on a charge of escaping from official custody while incarcerated at the Utah State Prison. At trial, Tuttle claimed that he was forced to escape because of duress. On appeal, he contends that the trial court’s instruction to the jury on the duress defense was improper because in the context of a charge of escape the trial court added three conditions qualifying the statutory defense. U.C.A., 1953, § 76-2-302 (Repl.Vol. 8B, 1978). We conclude that the trial court properly modified the defense to adapt it to a…