Opinion ID: 1396611
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Proffered Jury Instructions on Justification

Text: The circuit court refused appellant's proffered versions of the AMI Crim.2d 705 and 706 jury instructions on justification, use of deadly force in defense of a person. Appellant specifically asserts that the instruction to the jury should have included the phrase: However, he is not required to retreat if he is in his dwelling and was not the original aggressor. AMI Crim.2d 705. The judge determined that, as a matter of law, appellant was not in his dwelling at the time of the killing; therefore, the proffered instructions were not proper. There is no error in refusing to give a jury instruction where there is no basis in the evidence to support the giving of the instruction. Henderson v. State, 349 Ark. 701, 80 S.W.3d 374 (2002). The phrase appellant sought to include in the jury instruction is a parenthetical in AMI Crim.2d 705, indicating that its inclusion is optional. The issue here is whether there was a basis in the evidence to support giving the optional portion of the instruction. We have held that the term dwelling in the self-defense statute does not include curtilage. Hopes v. State, 294 Ark. 319, 742 S.W.2d 561 (1988). The Hopes court rejected the assertion that the defendant's porch was a part of his dwelling because it was not enclosed. Id. Appellant's house was about eighty-five feet from the highway. Pete was shot about 32 feet from the highway, and from a distance of no more than ten feet. Furthermore, according to appellant's own testimony, he left his porch to follow Pete into the driveway. Thus, based on the physical evidence and appellant's own testimony, he was not in his dwelling at the time he shot Pete. As there was no basis in the evidence to support giving the proffered jury instructions, we affirm the circuit court on this point.