People v. Heath

After being caught fleeing a burglarized house with stolen coins and jewelry, Heath (defendant) claimed at trial that Darryl Sodersten, to whom Heath owed drug money, held a gun to his head and threatened to kill him unless he committed the burglary, asserting a duress defense; the trial judge gave standard duress instructions alongside additional instructions drawn from a prior case (Pena) that were labeled "justification/duress" but actually stated the elements of the separate necessity defense. The jury convicted Heath of burglary, and he appealed, arguing the mislabeled Pena instructions misled the jury.