Whitfield v. State
Whitfield v. State
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. 1. The defendant in his statement said he had a pistol in a case in his pocket, and that the deceased “grabbed the pistol, and when she grabbed it I grabbed hold of it,too this way. I grabbed the pistol, and time I whirled to throw her off from me I whirled it around in her back this way as I throwed her off and it fired right off. It fired off right along here somewhere.” ITe gave no other explanation of the cause of the discharge of the. pistol. The statement of the defendant authorized a charge upon the subject of involuntary man-daughter-in the commission of a lawful act without due caution and circumspection. Nathan v. State, 131 Ga. 48 (61 S. E. 994).
2. The evidence did not authorize a charge, upon the theory that the killing was an accident for which the defendant was not liable to punishment, nor upon the subject of involuntary manslaughter; but the statement of the defendant authorized a charge upon both, and the same language in the statement authorizing the charge, upon one authorized the
Opinion of the Court
1. The statement of the accused did not present the theory of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act without due caution and circumspection; and a discussion of whether, if it had done so, the charge of the court on the theory of aceidenf (which was involved) would have been erroneous without going further and also charging as to the first-stated theory would be academic as applied to this case. Leonard v. State, 133 Ga. 435 (66 S. E. 251).
2. None of the other grounds of the motion for a new trial require a reversal. Judgment affirmed.
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