State v. Silva
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The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of murder, holding that any error the trial court committed when it refused to allow a claim of perfect self-defense was harmless and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Defendant's motion for a mistrial.
On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court erred when it prevented him from arguing perfect self defense and that the trial court abused its discretion when it refused to declare a mistrial after the prosecutor asked Defendant to demonstrate the shooting using a facsimile gun. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court's failure to give a perfect self-defense instruction was harmless under any formulation of the prejudice standard; and (2) under the circumstances of this trial the trial court did not err in denying Defendant's motion for a mistrial.
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