Davis v. Commonwealth

On March 28, 1973 the trial court entered final judgment upon the jury’s verdict finding Otis Hunt Davis (defendant) guilty of murder of the first degree and fixing his punishment at life in the penitentiary. Defendant, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, challenges the trial court’s refusal to grant an irresistible impulse instruction.

The evidence showed that defendant, in an unprovoked attack, stabbed and killed Gene Smith as he sat on a stool at the counter of the Greenleaf Cafe. Medical expert witnesses testified that defendant was not feebleminded or psychotic but was subject…