The People v. . Beckwith
New York Court of Appeals
Appeal by defendant, Oscar F. Beckwith, from a judgment of the General Term of the Supreme Court in the Third Department, of 22d May, 1886, affirming a -judgment of the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Columbia County convicting defendant of murder in the first degree. The facts which are important for an understanding of the case are given in the opinion of the General Term. See 4 H. Y. Crim. Rep. 335 et seq.
1Opinion of the CourtFinch, J.
That the prisoner killed the deceased by the blow of an ax he himself has testified. While the jury were not bound to believe his account of the struggle and its origin, , and might well have doubted it, as in many respects improbable and unreasonable, yet, if they gave it credence, it furbished, in connection with the other evidence, sufficient ground for the verdict which they rendered.
The argument before us was largely devoted to the point that the final blow was delivered at the close of a furious struggle and before sufficient time had elapsed for the prisoner’s passions, engendered by…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- State v. HockettSupreme Court of Iowa · 1886
- People v. MajoneNew York Supreme Court · 1882
3Cited by11 opinions
- People v. . KennedyNew York Court of Appeals · 1899
- People v. . DeckerNew York Court of Appeals · 1898
- Perugi v. StateWisconsin Supreme Court · 1899
- People v. . MorseNew York Court of Appeals · 1909
- State v. PalmerWashington Supreme Court · 1918
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