Arizona Man Gets New Trial in Self-Defense Shooting: A state appeals
court on Tuesday ordered a new trial for a 62-year-old retired teacher
convicted of murder in the shooting death of a hiker in northern Arizona
five years ago. Harold Fish claimed he shot Grant Kuenzli in
self-defense during their encounter in the Coconino National Forest, but
a jury convicted him and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. The case
galvanized gun-rights supporters, who said Fish's conviction represented
a threat to their right to protect themselves, and prompted the Arizona
Legislature to change the law to shift the burden of proof in
self-defense claim cases from the defendant to the prosecutor... In a
3-0 ruling, the appeals court said the trial judge's jury instructions
inadequately described the law of self-defense. The trial judge also may
have erred in barring evidence of the victim's prior acts of violence
related to dogs, the appeals court ruled...

...His case was sent back to Coconino County Superior Court because the
trial court judge had not given adequate instruction on what constituted
self-defense. The panel of appellate judges scolded Superior Court Judge
Mark Moran for not answering a jury request to define the word "attack."
The panel remarked that the jury may not have understood that someone
can commit aggravated assault on another person without actually
touching the person... The panel also noted that the lower court had
"sanitized" evidence of prior incidents in which Kuenzli had become
enraged and had frightened people during encounters with the dogs. That
opens the door for defense attorneys to bring into evidence prior bad
behavior of victims, especially if they corroborate a defendant's story
when there are no witnesses. Many times, in criminal trials, such "prior
bad acts" are excluded... The court also said Moran could have allowed
the defense to classify dogs as potentially "dangerous instruments,"
furthering the self-defense claim... If the case is retried, a bill
under consideration by the Arizona Legislature could affect Fish's
trial. It would make the state's revised self-defense law retroactive to
Fish's case... (Former governor Janet Napolitano twice vetoed bills that
would have made the self-defense law retroactive to Fish's case.)