People v. Gray
New York Supreme Court
The defendants were tried for murder, at the oyer and terminer of Genesee. The trial occupied four days, and was closed about ten minutes before twelve o’clock on Saturday night. It was conceded by the public prosecutor, that if the jury were of opinion that the defendants or either of them were guilty of manslaughter only, they might so find.
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The defendants were tried for murder, at the oyer and terminer of Genesee. The trial occupied four days, and was closed about ten minutes before twelve o’clock on Saturday night. It was conceded by the public prosecutor, that if the jury were of opinion that the defendants or either of them were guilty of manslaughter only, they might so find. The defendant’s counsel requested the presiding judge to charge the jury upon the law and the facts, who declined to do so, and submitted the case to the jury without any remarks. The defendants were convicted of murder. An exception was taken to the…
1Opinion of the Court
*290By the Court,
Savage, Ch. J.
It is no doubt the duty of the judge to charge the jury and state to them the law of the case ; but there may be good reasons for omitting to do so. In this case there was no dispute about the law, and the facts and intents were for the jury to decide. Had the judge undertaken to charge the jury, he could not have done so before the Sabbath morning, when the jury must have been discharged or kept together over the Sabbath. He therefore exercised his discretion and submitted the case without a charge. The verdict ought not to be set aside on this ground, unless it…
2Cited by3 opinions
- Chapman v. . McCormickNew York Court of Appeals · 1881
- Gardiner v. PeopleNew York Supreme Court · 1866
- Safford v. PeopleNew York Supreme Court · 1854