Dordell v. State

Summary

The Court affirmed Dordell’s convictions because he did not preserve a claim that the jury should have been instructed on the statutory claim-of-right affirmative defense. Although an unpreserved instructional issue may be reviewed for plain error, the record did not show that Dordell established the defense or that the omission jeopardized the fairness and integrity of the trial. The Court held that neither the statute nor common law required the trial court to give the instruction sua sponte under these circumstances.