State v. Hayden
State v. Hayden
Opinion of the Court
The defendant was indicted at the November term, 1888, of the circuit court of Dunklin county, charged with the murder of one Christopher L. Johnson, on the 18th day of June of that year. He pleaded not guilty, and on trial was convicted of murder in the first degree, and has prosecuted his appeal to this court. The defendant was introduced as a witness on his own behalf
The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded.
Reference
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Criminal Law: murder: evidence. Where a defendant on trial for murder testifies that he killed Uie deceased to save his own life, it is error for the court to refuse to allow him to prove by other witnesses threats against his life made by deceased, and that the latter was a quarrelsome and dangerous man.