State v. Troy McNeill.

In the trial below, the court instructed the jury it might return one of three verdicts, to wit: Guilty of murder in the first degree, guilty of murder in the second degree, or not guilty. The jury was then instructed there was no evidence in this case to warrant its submission to the jury on the question of manslaughter, and “therefore, the Court instructs the jury that you should not in any event find the defendant guilty of manslaughter.” To this the defendant excepted and assigns it as error.

It is disclosed by the record that the defendant had beaten his wife on numerous occasions prior…