State v. Joey J. Fowler and Jamil L. Hearns (080880) (Union County and Statewide)

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed the Appellate Division and remanded, holding that the trial court did not err by refusing a self‑defense instruction because the statute does not apply to a bystander killing, and that the omission of lesser‑included‑offense instructions was not error since the record did not “jump off the page.” The Court emphasized that the existing murder instructions were sufficient to lead a jury to a not‑guilty verdict if Hearns’s version were believed.