Interesting Self-Defense Case

(Eugene Volokh)

The case is People v. Richardson, decided by the Michigan Supreme Court Friday. The big dispute is not about the law, but about whether the instructions were clear enough; but many cases indeed turn on that very question. If you're interested in self-defense cases as they are actually litigated — especially in situations where the facts are ambiguous (was the defendant reasonably afraid of imminent death or great bodily harm, or was the threat over and the defendant attacked just because he was angry or worried about harm at some future time?), where the jury might well have been confused, and where the instructions weren't as clear as they could have been — you might check this out.