The state Supreme Court has ruled that a Waterbury man deserves a new trial because his jury wasn’t told to consider his right of self defense before convicting him of manslaughter for shooting to death a bystander during a gunfight on a city street.

The 5-1 decision expands the right of defendants to argue self defense when charged with some crimes of violence. The court held, addressing what it called “a novel question,” that defendants charged with first-degree manslaughter — a law against “reckless” conduct resulting in death — can argue that they acted, recklessly or not, in order to save themselves.

“When a person unintentionally injures or kills a third-party bystander while using justifiable force in self-defense, that person does not have any criminally culpable intent,” the c

See Full Page