People v. Jones

The primary issues in this case concern alleged errors in the court’s instructions to the jury.

The facts are not seriously controverted. Defendant never denied that he stabbed his mother-in-law Anna Arnold, or her friend Elizabeth Steele during a reception in celebration of the marriage of his daughter. Bather, he testified that he had no recollection of stabbing either of these women, and offered evidence of his intoxication at the time of the incident. The principal issue presented at the trial was whether defendant was sufficiently intoxicated so that he lacked the specific intent…