Opinion ID: 1667476
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether the trial court erred in refusing to give the following instructions in its charge to the jury:

Text: A) An instruction regarding circumstantial evidence; B) An instruction regarding self defense; C) An instruction regarding reasonable doubt and its being derived from any part of the evidence or the body of evidence as a whole. We summarize the facts as follows: On February 21, 1987, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Phillip Necklaus and Timmy Riggs arrived at Sherry Johnson's house, located in Cullman, Alabama, where a party was in progress. Ten to 12 persons were there, including Pope. At approximately 10:00 p.m., Necklaus asked Pope to leave the premises; at that time a fight began between the two. Subsequently, Pope, Debbie Ponder (who was then Pope's girlfriend and who is now his wife), Sherry Johnson, and two others left the premises; they returned after approximately one hour. Upon their return, Sherry Johnson did not enter the house, but walked to the rear of the house, where she remained in the backyard. Pope and Ponder entered the house, and a fight ensued, involving Pope, Ponder, Necklaus, and Riggs. Pope and Necklaus began fighting in the living room and continued the fight into the bedroom, where Pope broke a tequila bottle over Necklaus's head. Pope proceeded to cut Necklaus on his back, chest, and shoulders with the broken bottle, inflicting wounds requiring 46 surgical staples to close. When Riggs heard the tequila bottle break, he came to Necklaus's assistance and found Pope wielding a piece of glass in his right hand. Pope then cut Riggs on his back, arm, and chest, inflicting wounds requiring over 50 stitches to close. During the trial, the state introduced a physician's testimony that after his examination of Necklaus's and Riggs's wounds, he determined that they could have been fatal and that they would result in permanent disfigurement.