State v. . Fleming

At the trial of this action, the defendant admitted that he killed the deceased with a deadly weapon, to wit, a pistol. He contended, however, that at the time he fired his pistol at the deceased, the deceased was assaulting him with a deadly weapon, to wit, a knife. He relied upon his plea of self-defense, and contended that for that reason he was not guilty of murder or of manslaughter, as charged in the indictment. There was evidence which strongly supported the contentions of the defendant, and to show that the homicide was excusable because committed by the defendant in self-defense;…