Cooper v. United States
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
512 A.2d 1002 (1986)
Relevant factsFree
After his brother Robert Parker hit him with a radio during an escalating argument at their shared home, Leon Cooper (defendant) shot and killed Parker, and was convicted of voluntary manslaughter after the trial court instructed the jury it could consider whether Cooper failed to retreat when assessing his self-defense claim; Cooper argued the jury should instead have been told he had no duty whatsoever to retreat, since the attack occurred in his own home.
IssueFree
Whether, in Washington, D.C., a defendant charged with voluntary manslaughter of a co-occupant of a home is entitled to a jury instruction that he had no duty whatsoever to retreat.