New trial ordered as jurors weren’t told about defense law

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina appellate court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted in a fatal shooting he argued was self-defense.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reports the state Court of Appeals said Tuesday that jurors in Kelvin Oyakahil Irabor’s first trial weren’t told about the state’s “stand your ground” law. The 33-year-old Irabor was convicted last year of murder in the 2015 shooting of Dondre Keyshaw Nelson. Irabor admitting to shooting Nelson and said it was in self-defense.

The appellate court says in its unanimous opinion that a jury could have decided the state’s stand your ground law applied to the shooting. It says trial testimony indicated an altercation precipitated the shooting, and Irabor said then that he was afraid of what Nelson would do.

___

Information from: The Asheville Citizen-Times, http://www.citizen-times.com