Abbott v. Territory
Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
Error from District Court, Kiowa County; before F. E. Gillette, Judge. T. A. Abbott was convicted of shooting with intent to kill and brings error. Plaintiff in error was indicted, tried, and convicted of the crime of shooting with intent to kill, and sentenced to serve a term of 18 months in the territorial prison. From this judgment he appeals.
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Error from District Court, Kiowa County; before F. E. Gillette, Judge. T. A. Abbott was convicted of shooting with intent to kill and brings error. Plaintiff in error was indicted, tried, and convicted of the crime of shooting with intent to kill, and sentenced to serve a term of 18 months in the territorial prison. From this judgment he appeals. At the conclusion of the evidence the court gave the following instruction on reasonable doubt: “By the term ‘reasonable doubt,’ as used generally in these instructions, is meant a doubt that has a reason for it; it is a doubt you can give a reason…
1Opinion of the CourtWilliams, C. J.
(after stating the facts as above). Elementary writers, in discussing the measure of proof necessary to require a conviction in a criminal c'ase, have often stated that, “in cases of doubt, it is safer to acquit than to convict or condemn.” Best on Evidence, §§ 49, 95, and 440. “In some cases presumptive evidences go far to prove guilty though there may be no express proof of the fact to be committed by him, but then it must be very warily pressed, for it is better five guilty persons escape unpunished than one innocent person should die.” Hale’s Pleas of the Crown, vol 2, p. 289. Mr. Best in…
2Cases cited7 opinions
- Siberry v. StateIndiana Supreme Court · 1893
- Cowan v. StateNebraska Supreme Court · 1887
- State v. SauerSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1888
- State v. CohenSupreme Court of Iowa · 1899
- Owens v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1904
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3Cited by15 opinions
- Saunders v. StateCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma · 1910
- Young v. StateCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma · 1962
- Harris v. StateCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma · 1914
- Moore v. StateCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma · 1950
- Vance v. TerritoryCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma · 1909
10 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.