A federal judge vacated a defendant’s manslaughter conviction and ordered his release from prison, faulting the absence of a self-defense jury charge.
Eastern District Judge Edward Korman granted Ronald Rodriguez’s pro se habeas petition, saying the trial judge’s “refusal to give the instruction, for which he gave no reason, was erroneous under New York law, and deprived petitioner of his right to have the jury determine whether the prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the homicide was not justified.”
