Dawson v. State
Dawson v. State
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The third instruction given for the State and to which appellant excepted is in these words : “The court instructs the jury that if testimony has been offered to establish an alibi, or the absence of the defendant at the time the crime is charged to have been committed, that such testimony should be weighed with great caution in connection with all the evidence in the case, because it is a defense easily fabricated and often attempted by contrivance or perjury; but when it is fully and satisfactorily established by the evidence to the satisfaction of the jury, it is a good and complete legal defense to the prosecution and entitles the defendant to an acquittal.”
There is error in this instruction, and we find nothing in the other instructions to counteract or remove its dangerous character and tendency, and we are compelled to reverse for this reason.
In Nelms v. The State, 58 Miss. 362, an .instruction to the jury which discredited the defense of an alibi was condemned, but it was intimated that the error would have been cured if the jury had also been informed that when fully and satisfactorily proven, an alibi was a perfectly good and legal defense. In Simmons v. The State,
The instruction in the case before us also informed the jury that the defense of an alibi must be fully and satisfactorily established, to the satisfaction of the jury, before it was a good and complete defense. Such is not the law of the land in which we live. The defendant is not required, in' any phase, of any criminal case, to prove his defense to the satisfaction of the jury, but it is sufficiently established if, upon consideration of the whole evidence, there is a reasonable doubt of his guilt. Pollard v. The State, 53 Miss. 410; Cunningham v. The State, 56 Miss. 269 ; Hawthorne v. The State, 58 Miss. 778; Smith v. The State, Ib. 867; Ingram v. The State, ante, 142.
Reversed,.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Allen Dawson v. State
- Cited By
- 9 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Ai.ibi. Discredited as a defense. Erroneous instruction. Where the defendant in an indictment relies upon the defense of an alibi, it is error for the court to discredit, such defense by charging the jury that the evidence thereof “ should be weighed with great caution, because it is a defense easily fabricated and often attempted by contrivance or perjury,” even though the instruction declare that such defense when “ established by the evidence is a good and complete legal defense.” 2. Same. How regarded as a defense. Such defense should be treated as any other, and not disparaged or prejudiced in the court’s instructions to the jury. 3. Criminal Law. Proof of defense. Instruction. An instruction which requires a defendant on trial for a criminal offense to make out his defense “to the satisfaction of the jury” is erroneous. Whatever may be the character of the defense, it is sufficiently established if, upon consideration of all the evidence, there is a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the accused. Ingram, v. The State, ante, 142, died.