State of Tennessee v. Joshua W. Chambers
Case Details
- Judge(s)
- Judge Robert L. Holloway, Jr.
- Status
- Published
- Procedural Posture
- Criminal appeal; trial court convicted defendant of second degree murder; appellate court found reversible error in jury instruction and remanded case
Related Laws
No specific laws identified for this ruling.
Outcome
Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals found reversible error in the trial court's self-defense jury instruction, which violated State v. Perrier by requiring the jury rather than the trial court to determine if defendant was engaged in unlawful activity. Case remanded due to improper instruction.
Excerpt
On January 5, 2017, the Montgomery County Grand Jury indicted Defendant, Joshua W. Chambers, for first degree premeditated murder of the victim, Richard Gibeau, and employment of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. Defendant claimed he killed the victim in self-defense. On May 24, 2018, a jury convicted Defendant of second degree murder. The jury did not reach a verdict on the firearm charge. On November 21, 2017, after the victim was killed but before Defendant's trial, the Tennessee Supreme Court issued State v. Perrier, holding "that the legislature intended the phrase 'not engaged in unlawful activity' in the self-defense statute [Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-11-611] to be a condition of the statutory privilege not to retreat when confronted with unlawful force and that the trial court should make the threshold determination of whether the defendant was engaged in unlawful activity when he used force in an alleged self-defense situation." 536 S.W.3d 388, 392 (Tenn. 2017). The trial court instructed the jury using Tennessee Pattern Instruction 40.06(b) as it existed before it was amended to comply with Perrier. The instruction given to the jury erroneously required the jury, rather than the trial court, to determine if Defendant was engaged in unlawful activity. On appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court erred by giving an improper jury instruction on self-defense. The State concedes error in the self-defense instruction but claims the error was harmless. Defendant also claims the trial court erred by granting the State's motion to amend the indictment on the day of trial, by permitting the admission of prejudicial evidence, by denying Defendant's Motion for Judgment of Acquittal and Motion for a New Trial, and by submitting an incorrect verdict form to the jury. After a thorough review of the record and applicable case law, we find that the trial court committed reversible error by improperly instructing the jury on self-defense.
What This Ruling Means
This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.
Similar Rulings
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