Smith v. State

The appellant was indicted for murder in the first degree, for the killing of Western B. Thomas. On the trial he was found guilty of manslaughter, and was sentenced to imprisonment in the State prison for eighteen years.

The only error assigned on this appeal is the overruling of the motion for a new trial.

Under this assignment, it is first contended that the court erred in giving to the jury, of its own motion, instruction number twenty.

The instruction reads as follows :

“If you believe, from the evidence, that any witness, before testifying in this case, has made any statements out of court,…