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North Carolina Criminal Instructions for Voluntary Manslaughter and Self-Defense, Slides of Acting

Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)Acting

Instructions for criminal cases involving voluntary manslaughter, including self-defense and imperfect self-defense, as well as involuntary manslaughter. It outlines the elements of these crimes and the conditions under which self-defense can be used as a defense.

Typology: Slides

2021/2022

Uploaded on 09/27/2022

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N.C.P.I.—CRIM 206.40
VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER INCLUDING SELF-DEFENSE (IN THE HEAT OF
PASSION OR IMPERFECT SELF-DEFENSE), ALSO INCLUDING INVOLUNTARY
MANSLAUGHTER. FELONY.
GENERAL CRIMINAL VOLUME
JUNE 2014
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 14-18, 14-51.2, 14-51.3, 14-51.4
------------------------------
206.40 VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER INCLUDING SELF-DEFENSE (IN THE
HEAT OF PASSION OR IMPERFECT SELF-DEFENSE), ALSO INCLUDING
INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER. FELONY.
NOTE WELL: This instruction is designed for use in those cases
in which the most serious homicide charged is voluntary
manslaughter. It should be used only in cases where there is
evidence that the defendant killed intentionally, but did so in the
heat of passion or in "imperfect" self-defense. It should not be
used in cases, such as child abuse, where the killing is
unintentional, but may have been with malice in that it was
done in wanton disregard of human life, S. v. Wilkerson, 295
N.C. 559, 583 (1978), nor should it be used in any other case
where there is no evidence of heat of passion, provocation or
self-defense. Cf. S. v. Wetmore, 298 N.C. 743, 750 (1979); S.
v. Montague, 298 N.C. 759 (1979). In all such cases, consult
N.C.P.I.–Crim. 206.31, 206.35 or 206.50.1 Where self-defense
is not an issue, use N.C.P.I.–Crim. 206.41.
NOTE WELL: If self-defense is at issue and the assault occurred
in defendant’s home, place of residence, workplace or motor
vehicle, see N.C.P.I.–Crim. 308.80, Defense of Habitation.
The defendant has been charged with voluntary manslaughter.
Under the law and the evidence in this case, it is your duty to return
one of the following verdicts:
1) guilty of voluntary manslaughter
1 The state by charging at the voluntary manslaughter level concedes that it has no
evidence of malice. This may seem to place the traditional definitions of voluntary
manslaughter into an awkward context, since at first blush it would appear that the state
would have to prove heat of passion, which it usually has to negate when trying to obtain a
murder conviction. On closer analysis, however, the real issue in a case involving evidence
of heat of passion will be whether the defendant killed the victim intentionally, as the state
must prove to establish voluntary manslaughter, or unintentionally, in which case the crime
would at most be involuntary manslaughter. Alternatively, if there is evidence of self-
defense, the issues will be whether the defendant was acting in response to provocation and
not in self-defense, or whether the defendant, if acting in self-defense, used excessive force
or was the aggressor. If the state establishes any of these three things, the crime would be
voluntary manslaughter; otherwise the defendant would be not guilty.
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Download North Carolina Criminal Instructions for Voluntary Manslaughter and Self-Defense and more Slides Acting in PDF only on Docsity!

N.C.P.I.—CRIM 206.

VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER INCLUDING SELF-DEFENSE (IN THE HEAT OF

PASSION OR IMPERFECT SELF-DEFENSE), ALSO INCLUDING INVOLUNTARY

MANSLAUGHTER. FELONY.

GENERAL CRIMINAL VOLUME

JUNE 2014

N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 14-18, 14-51.2, 14-51.3, 14-51.

206.40 VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER INCLUDING SELF-DEFENSE (IN THE HEAT OF PASSION OR IMPERFECT SELF-DEFENSE), ALSO INCLUDING INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER. FELONY. NOTE WELL: This instruction is designed for use in those cases in which the most serious homicide charged is voluntary manslaughter. It should be used only in cases where there is evidence that the defendant killed intentionally, but did so in the heat of passion or in "imperfect" self-defense. It should not be used in cases, such as child abuse, where the killing is unintentional, but may have been with malice in that it was done in wanton disregard of human life, S. v. Wilkerson , 295 N.C. 559, 583 (1978), nor should it be used in any other case where there is no evidence of heat of passion, provocation or self-defense. Cf. S. v. Wetmore , 298 N.C. 743, 750 (1979); S. v. Montague , 298 N.C. 759 (1979). In all such cases, consult N.C.P.I.–Crim. 206.31, 206.35 or 206.50. 1 Where self-defense is not an issue, use N.C.P.I.–Crim. 206.41. NOTE WELL: If self-defense is at issue and the assault occurred in defendant’s home, place of residence, workplace or motor vehicle, see N.C.P.I.–Crim. 308.80, Defense of Habitation. The defendant has been charged with voluntary manslaughter. Under the law and the evidence in this case, it is your duty to return one of the following verdicts:

  1. guilty of voluntary manslaughter 1 The state by charging at the voluntary manslaughter level concedes that it has no evidence of malice. This may seem to place the traditional definitions of voluntary manslaughter into an awkward context, since at first blush it would appear that the state would have to prove heat of passion, which it usually has to negate when trying to obtain a murder conviction. On closer analysis, however, the real issue in a case involving evidence of heat of passion will be whether the defendant killed the victim intentionally, as the state must prove to establish voluntary manslaughter, or unintentionally, in which case the crime would at most be involuntary manslaughter. Alternatively, if there is evidence of self- defense, the issues will be whether the defendant was acting in response to provocation and not in self-defense, or whether the defendant, if acting in self-defense, used excessive force or was the aggressor. If the state establishes any of these three things, the crime would be voluntary manslaughter; otherwise the defendant would be not guilty.

N.C.P.I.—CRIM 206.

VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER INCLUDING SELF-DEFENSE (IN THE HEAT OF

PASSION OR IMPERFECT SELF-DEFENSE), ALSO INCLUDING INVOLUNTARY

MANSLAUGHTER. FELONY.

GENERAL CRIMINAL VOLUME

JUNE 2014

N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 14-18, 14-51.2, 14-51.3, 14-51.

  1. guilty of involuntary manslaughter
  2. not guilty Voluntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being by an intentional act. A killing would be excused entirely on the ground of self-defense if: First, it appeared to the defendant and the defendant believed it to be necessary to kill the victim in order to save the defendant from death or great bodily harm. And Second, the circumstances as they appeared to the defendant at the time were sufficient to create such belief in the mind of a person of ordinary firmness. It is for you the jury to determine the reasonableness of the defendant's belief from the circumstances as they appeared to the defendant at the time. In making this determination, you should consider the circumstances as you find them to have existed from the evidence including (the size, age and strength of the defendant as compared to the victim), (the fierceness of the assault, if any, upon the defendant), (whether or not the victim had a weapon in his possession), (and) (the reputation, if any, of the victim for danger and violence) ( describe other circumstances, as appropriate from the evidence ). The defendant would not be guilty of manslaughter if the defendant acted in self-defense, as I have just defined it to be, and if the defendant (was not the aggressor in bringing on the fight and) did not use excessive force under the circumstances. (One enters a fight voluntarily if one uses toward one’s opponent abusive language, which, considering all of the circumstances, is calculated

N.C.P.I.—CRIM 206.

VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER INCLUDING SELF-DEFENSE (IN THE HEAT OF

PASSION OR IMPERFECT SELF-DEFENSE), ALSO INCLUDING INVOLUNTARY

MANSLAUGHTER. FELONY.

GENERAL CRIMINAL VOLUME

JUNE 2014

N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 14-18, 14-51.2, 14-51.3, 14-51.

defendant uses excessive force if the defendant uses more force than reasonably appeared to the defendant to be necessary at the time of the killing. It is for you the jury to determine the reasonableness of the force used by the defendant under all of the circumstances as they appeared to the defendant at the time. Furthermore, the defendant has no duty to retreat in a place where the defendant has a lawful right to be. 4 (The defendant would have a lawful right to be in the defendant’s [home] [own premises] [place of residence] [workplace] [motor vehicle].^5 ) NOTE WELL: The preceding parenthetical should only be given where the place involved was the defendant’s [home] [own premises] [place of residence] [workplace] [motor vehicle]. The burden is on the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense. For you to find the defendant guilty of voluntary manslaughter, the State must prove three things beyond a reasonable doubt: First, that the defendant killed the victim by an intentional 6 and 4 See N.C.P.I.–Crim. 308.10. 5 N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14 - 51.3 (a). 6 "Neither second-degree murder nor voluntary manslaughter has as an essential element an intent to kill. In connection with these two offenses, the phrase 'intentional killing' refers not to the presence of a specific intent to kill, but rather to the fact that the act which resulted in death is intentionally committed and is an act of assault which in itself amounts to a felony or is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury. Such an act committed in the heat of passion suddenly aroused by adequate provocation or in the imperfect exercise of the right of self-defense is voluntary manslaughter. But such an act can never be involuntary manslaughter. This is so because the crime of involuntary manslaughter involves the commission of an act, whether intentional or not, which in itself is not a felony or likely to result in death or great bodily harm." S. v. Ray , 299 N.C. 151, 158 (1980). See also S. v. Jordan , 140 N.C. App. 594 (2000); S. v. Coble , 351 N.C. 448 (2000).

N.C.P.I.—CRIM 206.

VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER INCLUDING SELF-DEFENSE (IN THE HEAT OF

PASSION OR IMPERFECT SELF-DEFENSE), ALSO INCLUDING INVOLUNTARY

MANSLAUGHTER. FELONY.

GENERAL CRIMINAL VOLUME

JUNE 2014

N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 14-18, 14-51.2, 14-51.3, 14-51.

unlawful act. Second, that the defendant's act was a proximate cause of the victim's death. A proximate cause is a real cause, a cause without which the victim's death would not have occurred.^7 And Third, that the defendant [did not act in self-defense] or [though acting in self-defense was the aggressor] (or) [though acting in self-defense used excessive force]. If you do not find the defendant guilty of voluntary manslaughter you must consider whether the defendant is guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Involuntary manslaughter is the unintentional killing of a human being by an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or by an act done in a criminally negligent way. For you to find the defendant guilty of involuntary manslaughter, the State must prove two things beyond a reasonable doubt: First, that the defendant acted a) [unlawfully] (or) b) [in a criminally negligent way]. a) [The defendant's act was unlawful if ( describe crime , e.g. , "defendant assaulted the victim" ) ( define assault )] b) [Criminal negligence is more than mere carelessness. The defendant's act was criminally negligent, if, judging by reasonable foresight, it was done with such gross recklessness or carelessness as to amount to a heedless indifference to the safety and rights of others.] And Second, the State must prove that this [unlawful] (or) [criminally 7 Where there is a serious issue as to proximate cause, further instructions may be helpful, e.g. , "The defendant's act need not have been the last cause or the nearest cause. It is sufficient if it concurred with some other cause acting at the same time, which in combination with it, proximately caused the death of the victim."

N.C.P.I.—CRIM 206.

VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER INCLUDING SELF-DEFENSE (IN THE HEAT OF

PASSION OR IMPERFECT SELF-DEFENSE), ALSO INCLUDING INVOLUNTARY

MANSLAUGHTER. FELONY.

GENERAL CRIMINAL VOLUME

JUNE 2014

N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 14-18, 14-51.2, 14-51.3, 14-51.

be your duty to return a verdict of guilty of voluntary manslaughter. If you do not so find or have a reasonable doubt as to one or more of these things, you will not return a verdict of guilty of voluntary manslaughter. You must then determine whether the defendant is guilty of involuntary manslaughter. If you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that on or about the alleged date, the defendant [(describe crime)] (or) [acted in a criminally negligent way] thereby proximately causing the victim's death, it would be your duty to return a verdict of guilty of involuntary manslaughter. However, if you do not so find or have a reasonable doubt as to one or more of these things, it would be your duty to return a verdict of not guilty. And finally, if the State has failed to satisfy you beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense, that the defendant was the aggressor, or that the defendant used excessive force, then the defendant's action would be justified by self-defense; therefore, you would return a verdict of not guilty.