Estate of Gordon L. Kelsen

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• noting that “the defendant was not entitled to any instruction on self-defense or defense of another. Therefore, whatever the judge said ... was more favorable to the defendant than he deserved and could not have prejudiced his position”
• “Judges need not deliver their instructions in any particular form of words, so long as all necessary instructions are given in adequate words”
• no particular form of words required for jury instruction so long as instruction given adequately explains legal concepts
• erroneous self-defense instruction was harmless because evidence showed that defendant “was not entitled to” any such instruction
• defendant not entitled to self-defense instruction absent evidence of reasonable and actual belief that he or another was in imminent danger of death of serious bodily harm
• defendant not entitled to self-defense instruction absent evidence of reasonable and actual belief that he or another was in imminent danger of death of serious bodily harm

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).