Johnson v. State

GOODWYN, Justice.

Lewis Johnson was indicted-for and convicted of murder in the second degree, and, as punishment therefor, was sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for ■ twenty-five years.

The tendency of the State’s evidence was that the defendant made an unprovoked assault upon the deceased, Esau Wilson, by hitting him with his fist, thereby breaking the deceased’s neck and causing his death. There was no dispute that defendant struck the deceased with his fist “about five times”. The theory of the defense was that the deceased provoked the difficulty and was the aggressor; that he…