People v. Wells

For the reasons stated in my dissenting opinion in People v. Danielly, post, p. 362 [202 P.2d 18], I agree that the testimony of the prison physicians who had Wells under observation just prior to the time of the commission of the acts with which he was charged, was improperly excluded. Evidence tending to prove that a defendant did not have the state of mind which the statute requires as an essential element of a crime should always be admissible upon a *359plea of not guilty as a defense to the charge. The refusal to admit such evidence allows one to be convicted of the crime defined by section…