People v. Smith

Summary

The Court of Appeals affirmed defendant's first-degree robbery conviction, holding that the trial court properly refused to instruct the jury on the statutory affirmative defense. Although defendant showed that the object was a recovered BB gun, he offered no evidence concerning that particular gun's capability of causing death or serious physical injury, so submitting the defense would have required speculation. The court held that a BB gun's capability is not resolved as a matter of law and that the defense instruction is warranted only when the evidence permits a jury to find its elements by a preponderance of the evidence.