State v. Boyett

185 P.3d 355 (2008)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D and Victim had a rancorous history. The enmity that each harbored for the other apparently had its roots in a romantic interest that both had in Renate Wilder. Wilder and Victim were childhood friends who eventually moved in together and started an intimate relationship. Although their romance ended, the two remained close friends, living and working together. Wilder later met D, and the two became romantically involved. Wilder eventually supplanted Victim's presence in her life with that of D. She fired Victim from her bar and gave Victim's former job to D. She ousted Victim from her home with the help of a restraining order and invited D to move in. At one point, Victim discovered the entwined couple near the hot tub behind Wilder's house. Enraged, Victim retrieved a gun from the house and used it to threaten the couple. Disdain developed between D and Victim, and Victim only occasionally returned to Wilder's home after she was forced out. Wilder and D planned to marry on February 6, 2004. A few days prior to her wedding, Wilder absconded from the home that she shared with d. She spent that time with Victim and did not tell d where she was or what she was doing. D engaged in a variety of activities aimed at locating her but was unsuccessful in his attempts; he rightfully suspected that she was with Victim although he was unable, at that time, to confirm his suspicions. Wilder departed Victim's company to return to her own home but had a car accident along the way. Victim offered to claim responsibility for it. Wilder accepted and departed the scene on foot, walking back to the house that she shared with D. Shortly after Wilder returned to the house, Victim arrived. Victim's visit concluded when D shot her in the head with a .357 revolver from approximately four feet away, but the events leading to that end were disputed at trial. The State theorized that Victim went to the house to return Wilder's keys and makeup bag, which she had forgotten in the wrecked car. The State argued that before Victim could accomplish that goal, D opened the front door, shouted at her to leave the property, and then immediately shot her. D's version of events was quite different. He claimed that Victim came to the house that day intent on killing him to prevent his impending marriage to Wilder. D testified that he heard a loud banging at the front door, grabbed the gun that he kept nearby, and opened the door only to find a furious Victim on the doorstep. D said that he shouted at Victim, telling her to get off his property, but in the process of trying to run her off, he observed her draw the gun that he knew she routinely carried. In fear for his life, D raised his revolver and shot Victim. D asserted that if he had not shot her, she would have fired her gun and fatally wounded him. D wanted an instruction for defense of habitation. The court refused, and D was convicted and appealed.