United States v. Anthony Darrell Lesina

Defendant Anthony Darrell Lesina appeals a conviction of second degree murder. Lesina argues that the district court’s jury instructions deprived him of his Fifth Amendment guarantee of due process. We agree, reverse and remand for a new trial.

I

Lesina lived with Marvena Meanus, his fiancee, and Elarrio Medina, his best friend and Meanus’ cousin, in a house on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon. Lesina and Meanus had been living together for over a year, and had a baby who was only a few days old at the time of the incident. On the morning of December 12, 1985, Lesina, Medina and Meanus did some bead work, and smoked some marijuana. Later, the two men worked on Lesi-na’s car and, at around 3:00 p.m., took it for a drive. Lesina told Meanus that he and Medina were going to talk to a customer about some bead work that Lesina had done. While driving around the reservation, Lesina and Medina bought and consumed four forty-ounce bottles of beer between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. After the pair consumed the last bottle of beer, Lesina’s car broke down. Lesina and Medina got a ride back to the house from Lesina’s mother. Upon arriving at the house, Lesina and Medina entered through…