State v. Bruner

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, holding that the circuit court did not err by refusing to submit a self-defense instruction.In State v. Smith, 456 S.W.3d 849, 852 (Mo. 2015), the Supreme Court reaffirmed that if substantial evidence is presented of the elements of self-defense, the issue is injected and self defense must be submitted by instructing the jury that the State has the burden of proving a lack of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. In the instant case, the Supreme Court held that the circuit court did not err in refusing the self-defense instruction because Defendant did not meet his burden of producing evidence sufficient to inject self-defense in his case. View "State v. Bruner" on Justia Law