You guys aren't getting the big picture, self defense in the lovely state of ny, and they want to prosecute him for murder?
Hey you escaped your captors and did what you had to to survive, sorry we are putting you in jail for life. Next time why don't you just lay down and die.
.....Welcome to the progressive new pussy world
Doesn't sound like self-defense to me, not even in Redneckistan.
“I grabbed the hammer from the kitchen and hit Jessie three or four times until he was unconscious,”
Dude #1 walks into kitchen, grabs hammer, goes back to the living room and beats dude #2 to death.
It's not like dude #1 pulled the hammer out of his waistband to defend himself.