Downs v. State

Under an indictment charging the defendant with the offense of murder in the second degree, he was convicted of that offense, and the punishment fixed at 10 years’ imprisonment in the penitentiary.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the indictment, but did not deny that he killed deceased by shooting him with a pistol. He claimed self-defense, and strenuously insisted that at the time he fired the fatal shot he was in actual imminent danger-of losing his life or suffering grievous bodily harm at the hands of deceased, who was shooting at him in close proximity, with a pistol. He further…