Case Title: State v. Fowler

Citation: 108 S.E.2d 892, 250 N.C. 595

Docket Number: 

State: north-carolina

Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

Date: 1959-06-12T00:00:00Z

Document:
108 S.E.2d 892 (1959)
250 N.C. 595
STATE
v.
Curtis FOWLER.
No. 729.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.
June 12, 1959.
*893 Walter D. Barrett, Graham, for defendant, appellant.
Malcolm B. Seawell, Atty. Gen., and T. W. Bruton, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
MOORE, Justice.
Defendant's assignments of error challenge the correctness of the judge's instructions to the jury on the law of self-defense.
The court charged the jury as follows:
Near the end of the charge the judge further instructed the jury as follows:
The foregoing instructions, taken as a whole, are inadequate to state the law of self-defense arising upon the facts in this case. More specifically, the explanation of the apprehension of danger which justifies a killing in self-defense and of the amount of force which may be employed in self-defense is insufficient and erroneous.
The charge states that, before the defendant's act in killing deceased may be excused on the ground of self-defense, he "must show * * * that * * * he was under actual fear or had reasonable grounds to fear that his life was in danger and that he was in danger of great bodily harm." At best the statement is ambiguous. We have no way of determining which construction the jury placed thereon. The law does not require the defendant to show that he was actually in danger of great bodily harm.
As stated by Parker, J., in State v. Goode, 249 N.C. 632, 633, 107 S.E.2d 70, 72: "There is a marked distinction between an actual necessity for killing and a reasonable apprehension of losing life or receiving great bodily harm. The plea of self-defense rests upon necessity, real or apparent. State v. Rawley, 237 N.C. 233, 74 S.E.2d 620; State v. Robinson, 213 N.C. 273, 195 S.E. 824; State v. Marshall, 208 N.C. 127, 179 S.E. 427." See also State v. Ellerbe, 223 N.C. 770, 773, 28 S.E.2d 519; State v. Johnson, 184 N.C. 637, 643, 113 S.E. 617.
The pertinent principles of law are clearly set forth in State v. Marshall, 208 N.C. 127, 129, 179 S.E. 427, 428, as follows:
With reference to the amount of force which may be used in self-defense, the court indicated at one point that no more force may be used than is "reasonably necessary." Later in the charge the jury was instructed that the defendant would be guilty of manslaughter if he used "more force than was necessary."
When there are conflicting instructions upon a material point a new trial must be granted, as the jury is not supposed to be able to determine when the judge states the law correctly or when incorrectly. State v. Johnson, supra, 184 N.C. at page 642, 113 S.E. 617.
A defendant, when acting in his proper self-defense, may use such force only as is necessary, or as reasonably appears to him at the time of the fatal encounter to be necessary, to save himself from death or great bodily harm. "The *895 reasonableness of the apprehension of necessity to act, and the amount of force required, must be judged by the jury upon the facts and circumstances as they appeared to the defendant at the time of the killing." State v. Moore, 214 N.C. 658, 661, 200 S.E. 427, 429; State v. Bryant, 231 N.C. 106, 55 S.E.2d 922.
New trial.