State v. Sexton

733 A.2d 1125 (1999)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Evidence was conflicting, but a friend of the decedent testified that he had overheard two men having an argument and heard one tell the other there were no bullets in the gun. The witness heard the gun go off and the victim was killed. The witness did see D with the gun in his hand but did not see D shoot the victim. D was charged with murder and gun possession charges. During trial, an expert testified that if the magazine of the gun had been removed after one round was in the chamber, it would be impossible to see if the gun was loaded without pulling the slide that covered the chamber to the rear. The expert testified it was probably possible that someone who knew nothing about guns would assume that the gun was unloaded. D testified that the victim told him the gun was unloaded and D claimed that it accidentally went off. D was found not guilty of murder, aggravated manslaughter or possession of the handgun for an unlawful purpose. D was found guilty of reckless manslaughter and unlawful possession of a handgun without a permit. D appealed. The appeals court reversed D's conviction on a number of grounds; the charge of first-degree murder was erroneously charged thus leading to the possibility of a compromise verdict. They also held that the state bore the burden of disproving beyond a reasonable doubt D's mistake of fact defense and that such a failure was plain error. This appeal resulted.