State v. Cephus

The court below in its charge instructed the jury in part as follows :

“The burden of proof as to the plea of self-defense is on the defendant to satisfy the jury, not beyond a reasonable doubt nor by the greater weight of the evidence, but simply to satisfy the jury that he was fighting in his own self-defense and used no more force than was reasonably necessary for his protection.”

This instruction must be held for error which entitles the defendant to a new trial.

It is true that in homicide cases when it is made to appear that defendant intentionally assaults another with a deadly weapon,…