State v. Hood

The respondent was tried for first degree murder on his pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree, and, pursuant to 13 V.S.A. §2303, determined that the punishment should be imprisonment for life in the state prison.

In his appeal to this Court, the respondent claims error solely with respect to the trial court’s instructions to the jury.

At the trial, counsel for the respondent presented the court with fifty-six requests to charge. One of these, number 34, was as follows:

“34. It is proper for the Jury to know…