United States v. Branch

Branch Davidian sect members, including Brad Branch and others (defendants), armed themselves and opened deadly gunfire on roughly 75 uniformed federal agents who arrived to execute a search warrant on their compound after shouting their intent to enforce it, resulting in deaths on both sides and a subsequent 51-day standoff ending in a fire that killed 84 residents; the defendants were charged with various federal crimes including aiding and abetting the murder of federal agents, and the trial judge instructed the jury that a murder conviction required proof the defendant did not act in self-defense, but refused a similar self-defense instruction for the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter. The jury convicted Branch and five others of manslaughter, and they appealed.