Mixon v. State
Mississippi Supreme Court
Error to the Circuit Court of Attala County. Hon. William Cothran, Judge. Elijah A. Mixon, the plaintiff in error, was convicted of the murder of a woman named Joan Hapson.
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Error to the Circuit Court of Attala County. Hon. William Cothran, Judge. Elijah A. Mixon, the plaintiff in error, was convicted of the murder of a woman named Joan Hapson. The assignments of error, and the facts necessary to be known, are sufficiently stated in the opinion of the court. 1. The court erred in giving the third instruction for the state. 2. The testimony offered by the accused to prove the words used by Matilda and Electra Kitchens, in attempting to identify him on the night after the homicide, was improperly excluded. ' The fact that such an identification occurred was drawn…
1Opinion of the CourtCampbell, J.
The third instruction for the state announces that “ while it is true that the state must make out its case beyond a reasonable doubt, yet it is also true that absolute, metaphysical, and demonstrative certainty is never required; that which amounts to mere supposition or probability is not what is meant by reasonable doubt.” This definition of “ reasonable doubt” is clearly wrong, and was pointedly condemned in Browning v. The State, 30 Miss. 656. This instruction is unfortunate, also, in the use of the word “ metaphysical,” as descriptive of certainty. It is probable that “ mathematical ”…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Browning v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1872
3Cited by3 opinions
- Nelms v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1880
- Bynum v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1962
- Ex parte HamiltonMississippi Supreme Court · 1887