People v. Hawthorne

The defendant, Robert E. Hawthorne, was convicted by a jury of second-degree assault, 1971 Perm. Supp., C.R.S. 1963, 40-3-203(b), 1 and was sentenced to the state penitentiary. He asserts two primary grounds for reversal. First, he asserts that reversible error occurred when the prosecution was allowed to impeach one of its own witnesses with a written statement which the witness gave to the police. As a second ground for reversal, the defendant asserts that the jury was not properly instructed on the issue of self-defense. We affirm.

Shortly after midnight on May 27, 1973, Jeffrey DeWitt…