People v. Gibson
California Supreme Court
Appeal from the Sixteenth District. / Indictment for murder. The record contains none of the evidence ; but from the charge of the Judge it is inferred that the killing.was in an affray, and that the defense relied on was self-defense. The only point made in this Court is upon the following portion of the charge to the jury: “ The reasonable doubt which is meant in the law relates to the fact'óf killing.
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Appeal from the Sixteenth District. / Indictment for murder. The record contains none of the evidence ; but from the charge of the Judge it is inferred that the killing.was in an affray, and that the defense relied on was self-defense. The only point made in this Court is upon the following portion of the charge to the jury: “ The reasonable doubt which is meant in the law relates to the fact'óf killing. If the killing is proved to your satisfaction, it is presumed to be murder in the first degree, unless the presumption has been rebutted by the evidence in the case. If the evidence is '…
1Opinion of the CourtBaldwin, J.
Cope, J. concurring.
The Court instructed the jury in this case that, from the mere-. *284fact of killing, the law presumed the slayer was guilty of murder in the first degree, unless this presumption was rebutted. We do not see how this charge can be supported. The statute (Wood's Digest, 331, sec. 21) is in these words: “ Malice shall be implied when no considerable provocation appears, or when all the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart. All murder which shall be perpetrated by means of poison, or lying in wait, torture, or by any other- kind of willful,…
2Cited by4 opinions
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