Courvoisier v. Raymond
23 Colo. 113, 47 P. 284 (1896)
Author: Secret Helper

Facts:

• Robbers entered defendant’s house
• Defendant fired shots in the air to scare robbers and robbers threw rocks at the defendant
• Plaintiff (police officer) heard the shots and stepped towards the defendant to stop him from firing his gun in the air
• Defendant shot the plaintiff

Procedure:

• At trial, jury rewarded plaintiff with $3,143
• Trial judge gave an instruction to jury: “The court instructs you that if you believe from the evidence, that, at the time the defendant shot the plaintiff, the plaintiff was not assaulting the defendant, then your verdict should be for the plaintiff.”

Issue:

• Was the instruction of the trial judge erroneous?

Holding:

• Yes

Rationale:

• The defendant claims that at the time he shot the plaintiff, he honestly believed that the plaintiff was not a police officer but one of the thugs.  The defendant claims that he believed that his life was in danger.
• It was up to the jury to consider the evidence of the defendant and then to decide whether he should be punished
• “…he [defendant] must satisfy the jury not only that he acted honestly in using force, but that his fears were reasonable under the circumstances.”
• Under the instruction given by the trial judge, the defendant never got the opportunity to prove this case to the jury.
• Reversed