State v. Myers

Because it was plain error to omit the element of “malice” from the jury instructions defining second degree murder and to omit from the jury instructions that the kinds of homicides instructed upon were felonies, Darren Lee Myers’ convictions of second degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony are reversed, and he is granted a new trial.

Myers was charged by information with first degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony. A jury in the district court for Adams County rejected Myers’ self-defense claim and convicted him of second degree murder in the January 24,1992,…