New Hampshire v. Woodburn
Annotate this CaseDefendant Jeffrey Woodburn was convicted by jury on one count of domestic violence, one count of simple assault, and two counts of criminal mischief. On appeal, he challenged only the domestic violence and simple assault convictions, arguing the trial court erred when it refused to instruct the jury on the issue of self-defense. He also argued the trial court erroneously excluded evidence of the complainant’s alleged prior acts of aggression against him, arguing that the evidence was admissible under either New Hampshire Rule of Evidence 404(b) or the verbal completeness and opening-the-door doctrines. Because the New Hampshire Supreme Court agreed with defendant that the court’s failure to give a self-defense instruction was error, it reversed his convictions for domestic violence and simple assault, affirmed his criminal mischief convictions, and remanded for further proceedings.
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