Haney v. State

The defendant was charged with murder and was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. The trial judge charged the law generally on manslaughter, but did not charge the law of mutual combat. The ground of the motion for a new trial complaining of the failure to charge the law of mutual combat is defective, in that it does not give any reason why the failure so to charge was prejudicial to the accused. Indeed, the ground does not even allege that such failure was prejudicial. It is well settled that a special ground of a motion for a new trial must be complete and understandable within itself, to…