Opinion
36926.
DECIDED FEBRUARY 2, 1981.
Certiorari to the Court of Appeals of Georgia — 156 Ga. App. 40 ( 274 S.E.2d 84).
Ray C. Norvell, for appellants.
Jon C. Peters, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.
In these granted certioraris, the Court of Appeals held that under State v. Stonaker, 236 Ga. 1 ( 222 S.E.2d 354) (1976), it was not error for the trial court to fail to charge on the affirmative defense of justification absent a written request. Booker v. State, 156 Ga. App. 40 (1980). Stonaker, supra, is inapposite as it applies only to charges on lesser included offenses. The applicable law is set out in Lavender v. State, 234 Ga. 608 ( 216 S.E.2d 855) (1975). If an affirmative defense is raised by the evidence, including the defendants' own statements, the trial court must present the affirmative defense to the jury as part of the case in its charge, even absent a request. The affirmative defense, however, need not be specifically charged if the case as a whole is fairly presented to the jury. Lavender v. State, supra. We thus remand to the Court of Appeals to examine whether the charge here meets this test. Judgment reversed. All the Justices concur.