Washington v. State
Washington v. State
Opinion of the Court
The defendant was tried for murder and convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He enumerates as error the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction, the failure of the trial court to charge on involuntary manslaughter and accident or misadventure.
1. Upon arrival at the deceased’s home there was testimony from the State’s witnesses that the defendant stuck a knife into his belt. Also according to the State’s witnesses the deceased confronted the defendant concerning why the defendant had told the deceased’s girl friend that he had been riding around with another woman. Thereupon the defendant picked up the deceased, threw
2. It was not error to fail to charge on involuntary manslaughter. Code Ann. §26-1103 (a) and (b) defines two types of involuntary manslaughter, one a felony and the other a misdemeanor. Felony manslaughter occurs when a person without intent causes the death of another by the commission of an unlawful act other than a felony. Misdemeanor manslaughter occurs when death is caused without intent by the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner. Under the facts even if the defendant did not intend to kill the deceased by stabbing him, he nevertheless committed an aggravated assault upon his victim, a felony under Code Ann §26-1302, unless, of course, he was acting in self-defense, in which case he would be guilty of no crime. Thus the deceased’s death was not caused by defendant by the commission of an unlawful act other than a felony and there is no basis to show that defendant caused the death in the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner. Tate v. State, 123 Ga. App. 18 (179 SE2d 307). The trial court correctly limited the case to murder, voluntary manslaughter or justifiable homicide by reason of self-defense.
3. There is no evidence which would require a charge on accident or misadventure. The accused’s unsworn statement that he did not know how he inflicted the fatal heart wound does not give rise to the theory of accident or misadventure. But even if it did, no error appears as there was no request to charge on this defense. Ivey v. State, 118 Ga. App. 406 (163 SE2d 843).
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.