Skrine v. State
Skrine v. State
Opinion of the Court
Pellam Skrine was convicted, in a county court, of the offense of intentionally pointing or aiming a gun at an
The judgment of the superior court should be affirmed. The evidence for the State fully authorized the verdict. The instructions given by the county judge to the jury, of which complaint is made, are substantially correct, with the exception of the charge complained of in the' fifth ground of the petition for certiorari. While it was evidently the purpose of the trial judge to charge the jury that they should not reach a conclusion that the accused was guilty unless such conclusion was authorized by the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, the charge as given was somewhat involved, aud, standing alone, might have been misunderstood by the jury; but in view of the entire charge of the county judge, as shown by his answer to the writ of certiorari, we do not see how the jury could have been misled by the language excepted to. Before giving the instruction complained of, he charged, “ but before you can convict, the evidence must show you beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty;” and after the charge excepted to, he instructed the jury, “ but if the evidence is insufficient, or you have a reasonable doubt of his guilt, you should acquit.” We can not see, therefore, how the jury could have understood, from the charge in question, that
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.