Court Opinion

ID: 8902770
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-11-27 01:22:02.915656+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:07:58.511959
License: Public Domain

Judge Webb
dissenting.
I dissent for two reasons. First, I believe the defendant was entitled to a charge on the defense of the home. The majority says this is not so because the deceased had turned away from trying to enter the house at the time he was shot. I would hold that although the deceased was not presently trying to force an entrance, the evidence showed he was on the porch for that purpose, and the defendant could reasonably believe he intended to commit a felony or inflict some serious personal injury upon the inmates. I do not believe he had to be in the act of trying to force his way in at the very moment the defendant fired the gun. See State v. Deck, 285 N.C. 209, 203 S.E. 2d 830 (1974) for a case in which the Supreme Court held self-defense should be charged although the deceased was not at that very moment threatening the defendant.
I also believe the defendant was entitled to a charge in regard to acting out of the heat of passion. I can imagine situations more provocative than the one defendant faced, but this one was certainly provocative enough. I believe a jury could reasonably conclude that the circumstances surrounding the defendant were enough to make a normal man so angry as to overcome his reason.