People v. Biggins

The Court.

The court below charged the jury: “ Insulting words, gestures, or actions will not reduce an unlawful killing from murder to manslaughter, unless the gestures or actions are such as to reasonably induce the belief of danger to life, or of great bodily harm, in the mind of the party against whom they are used.” If the party against whom actions “are used” reasonably believes that he is in danger of losing his life, or of receiving great bodily harm, the killing of his assailant is justifiable, and such killing is not “ unlawful.”

The jury were the sole judges of the credibility of the…