People v. Morisawa
People v. Morisawa
Opinion of the Court
Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree for the killing of one N. Daitoku. He appeals from the judgment pronounced upon such conviction and from an order denying his motion for a new trial.
The killing was admitted, and the defense was insanity. Complaint is made of the instructions given by the trial court as to the test of insanity.
Counsel for defendant, as we understand it, claims that the instructions were erroneous in not including, in addition to the elements stated, the element of “power” on the part of the defendant “to adhere to the right and avoid the wrong,” “the power to govern his body.” In other words, and as it was put by the appellant in People v. Hoin, 62 Cal. 120, [45 Am. Rep. 651], “the mere intellectual knowledge of right and wrong is not enough to defeat a defense of insanity, unless with such knowledge the defendant also has the volitional power to choose the one instead of the other, . . . the power to do or not do the killing under the guidance of such knowledge.” In the Hoin case it was said by the court: “Such irresistible impulse to commit an act which he knows is wrong or unlawful does not constitute the insanity which is a legal defense.” This is now so firmly settled in California as not to require discussion. (People v. Hoin, supra; Marceau v. Travelers’ Ins. Co., 101 Cal. 342, [35 Pac. 856, 36 Pac. 813]; People v. Ward, 105 Cal. 335, 343, [38 Pac. 945] ; People v. Hubert, 119 Cal. 216, 223, [63 Am. St. Rep. 72, 51 Pac. 329]; People v. McCarthy, 115 Cal. 255, 262, [46 Pac. 1073]; People v. Barthleman, 120 Cal. 7, 11, [52 Pac. 112]; People v. Owens, 123 Cal. 482, 489, [56 Pac. 251]; People v. Methever, 132 Cal. 332, [64 Pac. 481].)
There is no merit in the claim that the evidence was such as to compel a conclusion that defendant was insane at the time of the commission of the homicide.
*151 Examination of the record shows that the defendant was accorded every substantial right by the learned judge of the trial court, and that there is no good reason for a reversal. The judgment and order denying a new trial are affirmed.
Shaw, J., Melvin, J., Lawlor, J., Wilbur, J., and Lennon, 'J., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The PEOPLE, Respondent, v. R. MORISAWA, Appellant
- Cited By
- 9 cases
- Status
- Published