A man found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a 2023 Armstrong County case is challenging his conviction in federal court.

Nicholas Alexander Fortuna claims in a Habeas Corpus petition that the trial court misinterpreted the state’s Stand Your Ground law, giving erroneous instructions to the jury that caused them to dismiss his claim of self-defense.

Specifically, he claims instructions to the jury were incorrect because jurors were told the law’s requirement that an assailant “display” a weapon means that it has to be visible during an attack.

In May 2022, Fortuna was accused of shooting Jonathan Blackburn five times, killing him, at a North Buffalo property owned by Blackburn’s father.

Blackburn was upset that his girlfriend was leaving a gathering with Fortuna and another friend and tried to strangle Fortuna through the driver’s side window of his truck, according to the petition.

He also threatened to slash Fortuna’s tires, although no witnesses saw him holding a weapon. A utility knife was later found by police at the scene, according to court records.

The petition argues that if Blackburn had a weapon sharp enough to slash Fortuna’s tires, it was sharp enough to slash his throat and that Blackburn’s actions showed intent to use a weapon, thus making Fortuna’s actions self-defense.

Joseph E. Hudak, Fortuna’s attorney, believes the conviction and his treatment by Armstrong County officials, as a whole, were unfair.

“There is no requirement that you have to see the weapon, you just have to believe you’re being attacked with deadly force,” Hudak said.

The trial court, however, determined that Fortuna had a “duty to retreat,” arguing at the time that he could have driven away, given he was in a vehicle.

Fortuna’s petition states that, after his conviction, a man who was in the car with Fortuna said Fortuna could not have avoided lethal force.

“… (Blackburn) reached in and grabbed (Fortuna) around the neck. (Blackburn) was kind of right beside where the door would open, and he had his hand reached in,” the man said.

Fortuna’s self defense claim met four of the five requirements to negate a “duty to retreat.” Because the court instructed the jury not to make a factual determination on the fifth requirement of “displaying” a weapon, Fortuna was found to have not acted in self-defense.

The Armstrong County District Attorney’s office did not respond to a TribLive request for comment.

Fortuna was sentenced in 2024 to 4½ to 10 years in prison and is being held at SCI Greene in Waynesburg.