Tatum v. State

Luther Tatum was indicted for the murder of Sam Hunt and convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He made a motion for new trial which was overruled, and to that judgment he excepts.

Special ground 1 complains because the judge charged the jury as follows: “I desire to charge you, gentlemen, on a further rule of law. Proof of the violent and turbulent character of the deceased is admissible only when it is shown prima facie that the deceased was the assailant, and that the accused had been assaulted, and that the defendant was honestly seeking to defend himself.” The judge had elsewhere in his…