Hibbler v. State
Mississippi Supreme Court
F;rom the circuit court of Lafayette county. ' Hon. James B. Boothe, Judge. Hibbler, the appellant, was tried for and convicted of an assault, witb intent to murder one Monroe Patterson, and appealed to tbe supreme court.
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F;rom the circuit court of Lafayette county. ' Hon. James B. Boothe, Judge. Hibbler, the appellant, was tried for and convicted of an assault, witb intent to murder one Monroe Patterson, and appealed to tbe supreme court. Tbe instruction referred to in and condemned by tbe opinion of tbe court was in these words: “Tbe court instructs tbe jury, for tbe state, that if they believe from tbe evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that tbe defendant witb deliberate design shot at Monroe Patterson, not in self-defense, either real or apparent, and that tbe gun at tbe distance it was fired would likely…
1Opinion of the Court
Truly, I.,
delivered the opinion of the court.
The instruction for the'state is fatally erroneous. Tt charged the jury to return a verdict of guilty as charged if they believed in the existence of a mere legal presumption. This is not the law. To sustain a conviction of the felony charged in this case, the jury must believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that aj>pellant fired the shot of his malice aforethought, not in self-defense, with the deliberate design to effect the death of the person fired at, and that under the circumstances in evidence, the distance from which the gun…
2Cited by1 opinion
- Bell v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1907