Walton v. State
Mississippi Supreme Court
Error. to the Circuit Court of Wayne County. Hon. J. S. Hamm, Judge. On the trial of this indictment for murder, the counsel for the defendant asked the court to charge that “ if, after carefully considering all the evidence, the jury find the defendant guilty as charged, beyond all reasonable doubt, they may, in their discretion, declare in their verdict that the penalty or punishment shall be imprisonment for life in the penitentiary.
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Error. to the Circuit Court of Wayne County. Hon. J. S. Hamm, Judge. On the trial of this indictment for murder, the counsel for the defendant asked the court to charge that “ if, after carefully considering all the evidence, the jury find the defendant guilty as charged, beyond all reasonable doubt, they may, in their discretion, declare in their verdict that the penalty or punishment shall be imprisonment for life in the penitentiary. But, if the jury should omit to so declare the penalty in their verdict, the court shall pronounce the death penalty.” The court refused to give that…
1Opinion of the CourtGeorge, C. J.
The plaintiff in error was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He asks for the reversal of this judgment because the court refused to give an instruction to the jury informing them that, in case they failed to affix to his crime the punishment of confinement for life in the State Penitentiary, then it was the duty of the court to impose on him the penalty of death. We think the court erred in refusing the charge.
It is true that when the question submitted to a jury is alone as to the guilt or innocence of the accused, they have nothing to do with the punishment to be inflicted, in…
2Cited by5 opinions
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