State of Maine v. Keara M. Bernier

Summary

The court affirmed that the trial judge's repeated directions that Bernier answer truthfully did not constitute obvious error because they were intended to control nonresponsive testimony rather than comment on her credibility. It held, however, that the deadly-force self-defense instruction was materially incomplete because it omitted the dwelling-place exception to the duty to retreat. Because the omission could have affected the jury's self-defense determination, the court vacated the conviction and remanded for a new trial.