Saxton v. State

Trial by jury may well be “that palladium of civil liberty” but, alas, not all jurors are infallible.

I

“When the facts proved show that the homicide was committed in necessary self-defense and while legally exercising that right, the jury is not authorized to arbitrarily convict the accused of murder or manslaughter.”

5 Branch’s Annotated Penal Code (2d Ed. 1956) 399, § 2085, citing cases from Smith v. The State, 15 Tex.App. 338 (Ct.App.1884), through Middleton v. State, 147 Tex.Cr.R. 146, 179 S.W.2d 510 (1944); accord: 1 Texas Annotated Penal Statutes (Branch’s 3rd Ed.1974) 347, n. I.1

*915Thus we…