State v. Schrader

302 S.E.2d 70 (1982)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D went to Frank Millione's Gun and Coin Shop to purchase and trade war souvenirs. D asserts that an argument developed between D and the victim after D questioned the authenticity of a German sword that he had previously purchased. D stabbed Frank Millione fifty-one times with a hunting knife. D claimed that he had acted in self-defense. He maintained that the victim was known by him to carry weapons and that the victim had reached into his pocket to draw a gun during the course of the argument. D did testify, however, that Mr. Millione never produced any gun from his pocket. Stab wounds were found on the victim's face, head, neck, back, and chest. In its instructions to the jury, the trial court stated that D had the burden of proving self-defense by a preponderance of the evidence. In another instruction, the court's definition of 'willful, deliberate and premeditated killing' provided that the state need only show that the intention to kill came 'into existence for the first time at the time of such killing, or at any time previously.' D was convicted and appealed based on a jury instruction regarding the definition of premeditation.