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Stiles v. State

The trial court should have instructed the jury on self-defense as to defendant's cruelty to children charge, since the state could not prove the essential element of malice if defendant acted in self-defense.

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On November 19, 1998, Dale E. Stiles was convicted by a jury of battery and cruelty to children in Habersham County Superior Court. Following his motion for new trial, the trial court granted a new trial on the battery count because there had been no charge on self-defense, but denied the motion as to the cruelty to children conviction. Stiles appeals from the trial court’s order. This Court finds that the trial court erred in denying a new trial on the cruelty to children conviction. Therefore, we reverse and remand with direction.

The relevant facts, viewed in a light most favorable to the jury’s verdict,1 are as follows: On December 7, 1997, Stiles and his ex-wife, Diane Jones, argued in the presence of her eleven-year-old son, S. G. Jones claimed that Stiles severely beat her after she told him to leave her home. She testified that Stiles knocked her to the ground while she was holding their eight-month-old baby; the baby fell out of her arms and rolled under the piano. According to Jones, Stiles then repeatedly punched, kicked, and choked her before dragging her to the bedroom and pulling off her clothes. Jones testified that Stiles started to rape her, but she lost consciousness and did not know if he actually penetrated her. When she regained consciousness, Jones grabbed a paring knife from a bedside table and cut Stiles several times.

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