State v. Marr

Facts

The Defendant, Nathaniel Marr, was convicted of first-degree murder of a man named Arthur Carroll among other crimes and was given substantial consecutive sentences. The killing happened when the Defendant and his friend Curtis Alston, approached the back of a taxi cab and opened fire on Carroll, who was about to enter the cab.

The shooting of Carroll stemmed from an incident that happened three days earlier, when Carroll and another man went to the Defendant’s home with the intent to rob him. The Defendant was not at home, but the men come upon the Defendant’s cousin with whom the Defendant lived. While the two men were searching for drugs and money, one and or both of the men shot the Defendant’s cousin, killing him. The Defendant later went looking for Carroll and the man, allegedly to inquire about their involvement in the killing of his cousin.

The Defendant raised an affirmative defense of self-defense. This came through statements he gave to the police upon his arrest as he did not testify. In his initial oral statement, he told the police that he believed Carroll was responsible for his cousin’s death and went to his home to talk to him about it armed with a semi-automatic machine gun pistol and that when he saw Carroll exit his home, he fired. In a later written statement, he claimed he was both enraged and terrified when he learned about his cousin’s death and went to see Carroll to see if he would confess to the murder of his cousin and that he and Arthur were armed for their protection.