Court Opinion

ID: 9478785
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:57:57.915904+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:46:36.995327
License: Public Domain

GEORGE CLIFTON EDWARDS, Jr., Senior Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
Where in our instant case the wife had a knife in her hand in the fatal altercation and the deadly blow was struck by her husband’s fist, I believe omission of the paragraph of the Michigan Standard Criminal Jury Instruction (CJI) 7:9:06 entitled “Burden of Proof — Self Defense,” which reads as follows:
The defendant is not required to prove that he acted in self-defense. The prosecution has the burden of proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and this includes the responsibility of proving that the defendant was not acting in self-defense.
requires remand for new trial.