State of Oregon, Respondent on Review v. Leonard Contreras Sandoval, Petitioner on Review

Summary

The Oregon Supreme Court held that Oregon's self-defense statutes do not require a person to retreat before using deadly force against the imminent use of deadly force. The trial court therefore erred by instructing the jury that deadly force was justified only if there was no reasonable opportunity to escape or otherwise avoid the confrontation, and the error was not harmless because it could have caused the jury to reject self-defense. The court reversed the murder conviction and remanded for further proceedings.