Appendix A Self-defense Instructions

• Library: SC Crimes: Elements and Defenses (SCBar) (2021 Ed.)

Appendix A Self-Defense Instructions

Since 1989 in State v. Fuller, the South Carolina Supreme Court has consistently allowed specific self-defense charges tailored to the facts of the case. See State v. Fuller, 297 S.C. 440, 337 S.E.2d 328 (1989). This appendix will present some of those.

This appendix draws heavily on Jack B. Swerling and F. Patrick Hubbard, Jury Charges for Self-Defense in Homicide Cases, South Carolina Bar Journal, Vol. 1., No. 2, p. 20, (1989). (This article can be found at https://www.jackswerling.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7538/2018/11/011_JURY.pdf). For those interested in the law of self-defense in more detail, this article is still very relevant.

The classic charge of self-defense was set forth in State v. Davis, 282 S.C. 45, 317 S.E.2d 425, 453 (1984):

Self-defense is a complete defense. If established, you must find the defendant not guilty. There are four elements required by law to establish self-defense in this case. First, the defendant must be without fault in bringing on the difficulty. Second, the defendant must have actually believed he was in imminent danger of losing his life or sustaining serious bodily injury, or he actually was in such imminent danger. Third, if his defense is based upon his belief of imminent danger, a reasonably prudent man of ordinary firmness and courage would have entertained the same belief. If the defendant actually was in imminent danger, the circumstances were such as would warrant a man of ordinary prudence, firmness and courage to strike the fatal blow in order to save himself from serious bodily harm or losing his own life.

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