Johnson v. State

(After stating the foregoing facts.)

The court did not err in refusing to give in charge, as requested, the instruction set out in the first special ground of the motion for new trial. This request did not present a correct statement of the law upon the subject of the fears of a reasonable man as a justification for a homicide. To authorize an instruction upon this subject, “It must appear that the circumstances are sufficient to excite the fears of a reasonable man, and that the party killing acted under the influence of those fears, and not in a spirit of revenge.” Penal Code, § 71. The…