Culverson v. State

OPINION

By the Court,

Young, C. J.:

Samuel Culverson was convicted by a jury of first degree murder and sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment without *486possibility of parole for killing Michael Smith. We hold that the district court erred in instructing the jury that a defendant may not use self-defense to justify a homicide unless he is in actual danger of being killed or seriously injured by his assailant; and that the district court also erred in instructing the jury that a defendant has a duty to retreat when he reasonably believes that he is about to be attacked or killed. We reverse…