Court Opinion

ID: 9711155
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:25:22.891034+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:02.549902
License: Public Domain

DeBRULER, Justice,
dissenting.
The accused testified that he shot his wife in self-defense. A defense witness testified that the wife always carried a gun in her purse and had twice pulled it on appellant. A second defense witness testified that the victim’s mother had a gun at the scene. This proof of self-defense was not without weakness, but nevertheless in a homicide prosecution it was sufficient to raise the defense of self-defense. The trial judge and the parties agree that the defense was raised. When the defense of self-defense is raised the burden is on the prosecution to negate it. Williams v. State, (1978) 269 Ind. 265, 379 N.E.2d 981; White v. State, (1976) 265 Ind. 32, 349 N.E.2d 156; Johnson v. State, (1971) 256 Ind. 579, 271 N.E.2d 123. This burden is added to the existing burden of the prosecution to prove the elements of the offense. It requires the prosecution to convince the trier of fact to a certainty beyond a reasonable doubt, not only that the accused purposely or intentionally killed another human being, but in addition that he was not justified in doing so. The very essence of a trial in which self-defense is an issue, is the resolution of that issue by the trier of fact. The accused has a right to that, and as an appellate judge I want to know that he got it, and in a proper manner. A guilty verdict, because of its generality, does not provide assurance that the issue was resolved. Such assurance must come in jury situations from the jury instructions. The instructions given by the court in this instance do not provide that assurance, and I would, therefore, not permit the verdict to stand. Here, the jury was instructed that the State had the burden of proving the defendant guilty and was given an instruction defining the elements of self-defense. In the absence of an instruction fully and fairly informing the jury that a guilty verdict is inappropriate unless it is convinced that the defendant was not justified in killing, one cannot infer that the verdict of guilty carried with it a determination of the jury that the defendant was not justified in that act. If, as the majority concludes, there is no precedent requiring such an instruction, I would create one in this case.