State v. Dunning

Guy Gilbert Dunning was tried for the crime of second-degree assault. He presented a defense of self-defense, but the jury found him guilty of the crime as charged and made a special finding that he was armed with a deadly weapon at the time of commission of the offense.

The defendant appealed and raises the issue of whether the self-defense instruction properly instructed the jury on the amount of force which may be used to defend one’s self. We hold that the instruction was improper and accordingly grant a new trial.

The evidence adduced at trial showed that the defendant had been in Ocean…