Appellate attorneys spar over self-defense instruction in second-degree murder appeal

At oral argument in an appeal, defense counsel told the court the trial judge erred by refusing to give a jury instruction on self defense in a 2011 killing that was recorded on security video. The defendant was tried, acquitted of first‑degree murder and aggravated assault, convicted of second‑degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The case turns on whether the evidence “fairly raised” the self‑defense issue so that the jury should have been instructed, counsel said, and on whether any failure to instruct was harmless error. Defense counsel argued the record—particularly the security video and the defendant’s testimony—supported the instruction; the state said the record showed the defendant had opportunities to retreat and that no rational jury could accept a self‑defense theory.

The facts presented at argument, as counsel described them, are: the defendant…