Fields v. State
Supreme Court of Alabama
Appeal from Circuit Court of Russell. Tried, before Hon. Littleberry Strange. Appellant was indicted and tried for the murder of Jesse Dumas, found guilty of murder in the second degree, and sentenced to the penitentiary for ten years.
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Appeal from Circuit Court of Russell. Tried, before Hon. Littleberry Strange. Appellant was indicted and tried for the murder of Jesse Dumas, found guilty of murder in the second degree, and sentenced to the penitentiary for ten years. On the trial, it was proved that the killing took place in the public highway, in front of defendant’s gate, in the month of December, 1870. It seems that defendant had attached some property belonging to deceased’s sister, a short time before the killing. A little after mid-clay on the day of the killing, defendant, was at the house of a neighbor named Sarter.…
1Opinion of the Court
PECK, O. J.
1. Was the evidence offered by the defendant, that the general character of the deceased was that of a violent, turbulent, revengeful, blood-thirsty, dangerous man, and reckless of human life, properly excluded by the court ? I feel constrained to answer this question in the negative.
By the common law, the jury determined merely the guilt or innocence of the prisoner; and, if their verdict was guilty, their duties were at an end. They had nothing whatever to say as to the punishment to be inflicted. The court alone determined what the punishment should be, its extent and its…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Felix v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1851
3Cited by30 opinions
- Storey v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1882
- People v. PantagesCalifornia Supreme Court · 1931
- Ex Parte GilesSupreme Court of Alabama · 1994
- Smith v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1916
- Roberts v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1880
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