Court Opinion

ID: 9722610
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 09:41:44.410246+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:37.826505
License: Public Domain

Dissenting opinion by
Justice WINTERSHEIMER.
I must respectfully dissent from the majority opinion because the trial judge did not err when he declined to instruct on self-defense because there was no evidence to show that the use of deadly physical force against two unarmed individuals was justifiable.
Hilbert argues that the trial judge committed error when he refused to instruct the jury on self-defense because he did not take the stand to testify. He conveniently ignores the fact that there was no evidence presented to the jury to justify the use of deadly physical force under the facts of this case.
The trial judge noted that in this case all that happened was that Hilbert had been thrown out of the house trailer. Thus, because there was no evidence to demonstrate what Hilbert believed, it was necessary for him to testify and tell the jury what he did believe.
Hilbert complains that the fact that he had been mugged seven years previously in an unrelated incident was sufficient to demonstrate that he could have believed that he was in danger of death or serious physical injury. Such evidence only indicated that Hilbert may have been cautious and concerned about being mugged and that he began to carry a gun.
In this case, one of the female witnesses asked Hilbert if it was alright if she and her girlfriend brought two men home with them. She testified that Hilbert exhibited no fear and that he did not seem to care. It is clear that Hilbert only began to care when he believed that he would be excluded from the party in the mobile home and that the two victims would be alone with the two women. If Hilbert had been pushed outside the trailer, he still could have left the scene or called police. Instead, he chose to shoot and kill the first victim at point blank range, and then enter the trailer and shoot the second victim twice and kill him. Hilbert’s intention was to get back into the trailer and not to defend himself.
The facts here do not support a jury instruction in order to justify the use of deadly physical force. There was no evidence of an altercation and the evidence indicated that both of the victims were unarmed. There was no evidence that would permit even a subjective belief that he was facing death or serious physical injury. The defendant was not forced to choose between testifying and foregoing a valid defense of self-protection. A defendant may not have to testify in order to be entitled to a self-defense instruction, but he still has to introduce some evidence which allows a reasonable inference that he had a subjective belief that deadly physical force was justified. Such is not the case here.
I would affirm the conviction in all respects.
KELLER, J., joins this dissenting opinion.