Paprocki V. Foltz

This is an appeal from a district court judgment denying an application for a writ of habeas corpus. The petitioner, Terry D. Paprocki, killed his estranged wife during a struggle in their home. He was charged with murder and stood trial in a Michigan state court. Mr. Paprocki maintained that he had acted in self-defense, but a jury found him guilty of murder in the second degree. His conviction was upheld on appeal. Mr. Paprocki's principal contention in the habeas proceeding is that the state trial court's instructions to the jury were fatally flawed because they could have been interpreted as assigning the defendant the burden of proof on the self-defense issue.