Smith v. State
Mississippi Supreme Court
Appeal from the circuit court of Tishomingo county. Hon. Claude Clayton; Judge. David Smith was convicted of murder and appeals. The facts are fully stated in the opinion of the court..
Read the full summary
Appeal from the circuit court of Tishomingo county. Hon. Claude Clayton; Judge. David Smith was convicted of murder and appeals. The facts are fully stated in the opinion of the court.. Referring to the third assignment of error which is-, that the court erred in giving the fifth instruction given for the state, the last paragraph of which reads as follows : Or they may return, if warranted by the testimony,. the following verdict: “We the jury find the defendant not guilty.” We do not understand that the jury should - be warranted by the testimony in order to acquit. They may acquit for the…
1Opinion of the CourtNeed, J.
Appellant was convicted on a charge of murder and sentenced to the penitentiary for life. He killed another young man, George Bullard, by stabbing him repeatedly, some nine times, with a knife. The evidence in the case is sufficient to sustain the verdict of guilty returned by the jury. "We see no error in the action of the court in refusing to direct the jury to bring in a verdict of not guilty.
The giving of the fifth instruction for the state is assigned as error. Appellant complains particularly of the concluding words of the instruction, which are as follows :
“Or they may return, if…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Penn v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1884
- Moseley v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1908
- Sykes v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1908
3Cited by4 opinions
- Bridges v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1929
- Craig v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1950
- Jenkins v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1927
- Williams v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1931