Edwards v. United States

This appeal is from a conviction of housebreaking and larceny. There was testimony strongly tending to show that appellant was drunk when the acts were done. The court said in its charge to the jury: “You must find, before you can acquit the defendant Edwards, that the defendant was so intoxicated that she was incapable of forming an intent.” We find no other language in the court’s charge that seems to us to explain away the quoted statement. We think it erroneous. Incapacity need not be proved or found in order to entitle a defendant to an acquittal. It is true that no proof or finding of…