Georgia criminal attorney successful in reversing client’s conviction based on judge’s failure to give self defense instruction

The Georgia Court of Appeals recently reversed the convictions of a defendant after the trial court failed to instruct the jury on the defendant’s self-defense claim.

In Harris v. State, the defendant was convicted by a jury of four counts of aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated battery, and two counts of burglary. The defendant’s sole defense at trial was self-defense and accident. Yet, the trial court judge failed to instruct the jury on this sole defense. Under Georgia law, a jury must be instructed on a defendant’s sole defense even if the defendant did not request for the jury to be instructed. The Court of Appeals reversed the defendant’s conviction as a result and sent the case back to the trial court to be retried.

Our defense attorneys have handled many serious criminal cases, including murder and aggravated assault. When our defense involves a claim that the client was defending himself, it is vitally important to have the trial judge properly instruct the jury on the law governing self-defense claims. Perhaps this decision will help insure that judges always give this charge in self-defense cases.