Donnelly v. State

Bell, Chief Judge.

The defendant was convicted of aggravated assault, carrying a concealed weapon, and carrying a pistol without a license. Held:

At trial defendant offered no evidence. The only argument concerns the following charge to the jury. "I further charge you,... that the law says that a defendant is not compellable to give evidence for or against himself.” It is contended that the challenged instruction impermissibly calls defendant’s silence to the attention of the jury. The instruction is taken from Code Ann. § 38-416 and is a correct statement of law. It was not directed to…