Morales v. State (Original)
Annotate this CaseThis case arose when a fight broke out between the Kirby Block gang and the Manett Boys gang. Defendant was indicted and went to trial for murder. The jury charge contained instructions on defense of a third person and defendant objected to the instruction as not consistent with the current self-defense statute. The jury charge did not contain any instructions regarding a presumption of reasonable conduct in the self-defense context, nor did defendant request any such instructions. Defendant was convicted and appealed. On appeal, defendant contended, inter alia, that the trial judge erred in failing to delete the complained-of references to a duty to retreat and that the trial judge erred in failing to include instructions regarding a presumption of reasonable conduct. Defendant subsequently claimed that the court of appeals erred in disposing of his complaints with respect to the defense-of-others instructions in the jury charge. The court held that the trial court erred in submitting the italicized portions of the jury charge because those instructions were not authorized by statute and they constituted comments on the weight of the evidence. The court also held that the court of appeals' analysis on whether defendant was entitled to a presumption charge was incomplete. Therefore, the court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals and remanded for further proceedings.
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