State v. Wong Si Sam
Oregon Supreme Court
From Multnomah: Henry E. McGinn, Judge. Statement by Mr. Justice Bean. The defendant, Wong Si Sam, and one Low Soon, were indicted for the crime of murder in the first degree, charged with the killing of one Seid Wah Bing on the 20th day of December, 1911, by striking him on the head with a hammer, and cutting his- throat with a cleaver and razor. Wong Si Sam was tried separately and convicted of murder in the second degree.
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From Multnomah: Henry E. McGinn, Judge. Statement by Mr. Justice Bean. The defendant, Wong Si Sam, and one Low Soon, were indicted for the crime of murder in the first degree, charged with the killing of one Seid Wah Bing on the 20th day of December, 1911, by striking him on the head with a hammer, and cutting his- throat with a cleaver and razor. Wong Si Sam was tried separately and convicted of murder in the second degree. From a judgment and sentence of life imprisonment, he appeals. The evidence produced at 'the trial tended to show the following facts: Seid Wah Bing, a young Chinese…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Bean
Defendant’s counsel first assigns as error the court’s instruction to the jury over his objection and exception, as follows:
“Section 16 of Article I of the Constitution of Oregon provides that in all criminal cases the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court as to the law. * * The Supreme Court, however, has decided that in criminal cases the jury are to have the legal and constitutional right to pass upon the law as well as upon the facts. They are under moral obligation, however, to accept the law as the court gives it to them, and that…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Ross v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1883
- Childress v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1888
- State v. WaltonOregon Supreme Court · 1909
- State v. DaleyOregon Supreme Court · 1909
- State v. ReedOregon Supreme Court · 1908
3Cited by12 opinions
- People v. TewksburyCalifornia Supreme Court · 1976
- State v. OatneyOregon Supreme Court · 2003
- State v. HullOregon Supreme Court · 1979
- State v. WestonOregon Supreme Court · 1923
- State v. ReynoldsOregon Supreme Court · 1938
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