Humphreys v. State

Minnie Humphreys, plaintiff in error, was convicted of murder in the second degree; her maximum punishment being fixed at twenty years in the penitentiary.

Plaintiff in error admits that on January 4, 1933, she shot H. N. Helton with a pistol, but claims that she did so in defense of her life.

The State for a conviction relied to a considerable extent upon the dying declarations of Helton.

According to the record, as certified to this court, the trial court failed to instruct the jury as to the weight to be given the dying declarations of deceased. This is an error, for which the case must be…