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Crawford v. State10/20/2005
majority of this court held that a defendant was not entitled to a specific instruction that informed the jurors that they should acquit the defendant if they found the killing was justifiable. The majority opinion concluded that the instruction proposed by the defense was unnecessary because other instructions provided to the jury sufficiently informed the jury of the defendant's theory of the case. The other instructions provided a general, technical definition of justifiable homicide, but did not specifically advise the jury that a finding of justifiable homicide gave rise to a duty to acquit.
The dissenting opinion in Stroup, however, concluded that the defendant had been deprived of a fair trial because none of the jury instructions actually informed the jurors of the significance of the defense theory of the case, namely, that a finding of justifiable homicide gave rise to a duty to acquit. In Carter v. State, an opinion that is being issued concurrently with this opinion, we have observed that this court's jurisprudence has increasingly embraced the view advocated by the dissent in Stroup, i.e., that district courts, upon request, must include "significance" instructions in support of the defense theory of the case. In our view, the majority opinion in Stroup cannot be read in harmony with a significant line of authority holding that jurors should receive a full explanation of the defense theory of the case.
More specifically, this court has consistently recognized that specific jury instructions that remind jurors that they may not convict the defendant if proof of a particular element is lacking should be given upon request. This court has also recognized that " positive instruction as to the elements of the crime does not justify refusing a properly worded negatively phrased 'position' or 'theory' instruction." In Runion v. State, for example, this court approved a jury instruction stating in part:
If evidence of self-defense is present, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense. If you find that the State has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense, you must find the defendant not guilty.
As noted, with respect to the State's alternative theory of willful, deliberate, premeditated murder, the jurors in the instant case were generally instructed that the State had the burden of proving that Crawford killed Dugan with malice aforethought, i.e., without the requisite legal provocation. Although this instruction was technically correct, the jurors were not expressly instructed that, in considering the charge of willful, deliberate, premeditated murder, the burden was on the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Crawford did not act in the heat of passion induced by the requisite legal provocation. Even though this principle of law could be inferred from the general instructions, this court has held that the district court may not refuse a proposed instruction on the ground that the legal principle it provides may be inferred from other instructions. Jurors should neither be expected to be legal experts nor make legal inferences with respect to the meaning of the law; rather, they should be provided with applicable legal principles by accurate, clear, and complete instructions specifically tailored to the facts and circumstances of the case.
We therefore overrule Stroup and hold that where a defense theory of voluntary manslaughter is properly at issue in a homicide case, a district court should provide upon request accurate and complete instructions setting forth the State's burden to prove the absence of heat of passion upon sufficient provo
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