Bailey v. State

On the trial of a defendant charged with murder, the judge, in the course of his instructions to the jury, read Penal Code § 73, which is as follows: "If a person kill another in his defense, it must appear that the danger was so urgent and pressing at the time of the killing, that, in order to save his own life, the killing of the other was absolutely necessary; and it must appear, also, that the person killed was the assailant, or that the slayer had really and in good faith endeavored to decline any further struggle before the mortal blow was given.” The judge further instructed the jury…