United States Third Circuit

Defendant's conviction for assault with a dangerous weapon is affirmed where: 1) the existence of just cause or excuse is an affirmative defense to a section 113(a)(3) violation, and the defendant bears the burden of proving it by a preponderance of the evidence; 2) the district court did not err in precluding defendant from offering additional witnesses to support his justification defense or in refusing to include the defense in its jury instructions; 3) defendant's Fifth Amendment violation claim is without merit; and 4) defendant has not presented sufficient evidence to satisfy the threshold for obtaining discovery on his selective prosecution claim.

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/25/2012
• Published 07/25/2012

Judges

• Rendell

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel