Michael Lewis was convicted in the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm after a fatal shooting, and the District Court of the Virgin Islands affirmed the conviction and sentence. On appeal to the Third Circuit, Lewis argued that the trial court plainly erred by failing to instruct the jury sua sponte on the affirmative defense of justification with respect to the firearm possession charge. The court held that no such instruction was required under the circumstances and that Lewis was not entitled to it, affirming the conviction. It also rejected on the merits Lewis's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to request the justification instruction but dismissed without prejudice his separate ineffective assistance claim regarding other issues. The core reasoning was that counsel cannot be ineffective for failing to request an instruction to which the defendant was not entitled, and the appellate record was insufficient to review the remaining claim.

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