King v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas
Appeal from the District Court of Wood. Tried below before the Hon. J. C. Robertson. The indictment charged the appellant with the murder .of H. W. Harrington, on March 22, 1880, by shooting him with a gun. The jury returned a verdict convicting the appellant of murder in the first degree, and assessing his punishment at death.
Read the full summary
Appeal from the District Court of Wood. Tried below before the Hon. J. C. Robertson. The indictment charged the appellant with the murder .of H. W. Harrington, on March 22, 1880, by shooting him with a gun. The jury returned a verdict convicting the appellant of murder in the first degree, and assessing his punishment at death. The deceased was a physician in Wood County, and was assassinated within a short distance of his house, about nine o’clock in the night of the day alleged in the indictment. The appellant lived in the same neighborhood, on a rented farm. N.o witness saw the shot fired…
1Opinion of the CourtHurt, J.
The appellant was convicted of murder in the first degree, with the death-penalty affixed as the punishment. The record presents three questions for our solution : —
1. When the plea of insanity is interposed, is the burden of proof on the State to show sanity, or is it on the defendant to prove insanity ?
2. If the jury have a reasonable doubt of the sanity of the defendant, should they acquit or convict, sanity being the only question in the case? «
3. Can the proof be so plenary on one side as to justify the court below in the rejection of legitimate and proper testimony in behalf of the…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad v. Van SteinburgMichigan Supreme Court · 1868
- The People v. . McCannNew York Court of Appeals · 1857
- Hopps v. PeopleIllinois Supreme Court · 1863
- Polk v. StateIndiana Supreme Court · 1862
- Kay v. StateTexas Supreme Court · 1874