Cumberland v. State
Cumberland v. State
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The defendant, E. L. Cumberland, in February, 1913, in Neshoba county, shot with a pistol and killed one Will Lidell. He was convicted of murder and prosecutes this appeal.
The testimony for the state was sufficient to sustain the verdict of the jury, and that of the defendant made out a case of self-defense. Eyewitnesses to the homicide were introduced by both the state and defendant. The court gave the state the following- instruction (No. 7): “The court charges the jury for the state that if the jury believes from the evidence beyond' a reasonable doubt that Cumberland with a pistol shot Lidell, and thereby killing him, then the use of a deadly weapon is prima-facie evidence of malice and an intent to murder, and before this presumption is overcome' it must be shown by the evidence in the case, to the satisfaction of the jury, that at the time of such shooting with said deadly weapon the defendant was in immediate, real, or apparent danger of losing his life or suffering great bodily harm from Lidell, and such danger must have been urgent, present, and imminent at the moment of the killing. ’ ’ This instruction is erroneous, and in effect shifts the burden of proof to the defendant to satisfy the jury by the evidence of his innocence when the killing with a deadly weapon has been proven. True, it states that the jury ought to be satisfied from the whole evidence of his innocence; but we see no difference between this instruction and those which directly state that this burden rests upon the defendant. It further omits the fact that the jury must acquit the defendant if they have a reasonable1 doubt, arising from the evidence or the lack of evidence, of his guilt. This same instruction was given to the state in the Guice Case, 60 Miss. 714, and was also given in the Lamar Case, 63 Miss. 265. The court, in discussing this instruction in the Lamar Case, in part says:
“The very common practice by prosecuting attorneys of emphasizing the presumption of malice which arises from the use of a deadly weapon, and of isolating -and separating this presumption from all the other evidence in eases in which all the facts and surrounding circumstances are known and detailed by witnesses, should be discouraged by the trial judges by inserting in such instructions, when asked, the explanation that, though such presumption exists, yet when the facts and circumstances of the homicide are detailed by the witnesses, the jury should consider all the evidence, and from a consideration of the whole case determine whether the killing was or was not malicious. It is true that the law presumes malice from the deliberate use of a deadly weapon; it is not true that this presumption should control in determining the verdict in cases in which all presumptions are swallowed up by a full disclosure of all the facts surrounding and attending the killing. Instructions of this character are not erroneous, for the presumption does exist as stated, but it exists as a part of the whole case and not as a dominating factor controlling all the facts disclosed, as it is the tendency of such instructions to suggest. But the instruction in this case goes further, and informs the jury that this presumption of malice is to preyail unless, from the evidence, circumstances of alleviation, excuse, or justification are shown to the satisfaction of the jury. . . .
“It is sufficient if the evidence taken as a whole, whether introduced by the state or by the defendant, leaves the question of his guilt in reasonable doubt.
The defendant was denied an instruction fairly stating the converse of the above, reading as follows:
“The court instructs the jury for the defendant that in this ease the state must make out her case to a moral •certainty, and it is not until she has done so 'that the accused is required to do anything,, and then he need only from, the whole body of the evidence adduced for him •and ag’ainst him raise a reasonable doubt of his guilt -to entitle him to acquittal; and it is not true that, if no excuse or justification of the killing is shown by the state’s evidence, the defendant is guilty of murder, unless he has by his evidence proven the excuse or justification.”
The above instruction is a correct announcement of the .law and should have been given.
There were errors also in permitting the introduction of certain testimony:
The witness McElroy should not have been allowed to express his opinion that it “looked like there had been a crap game there;” he should have stated the facts and let the jury draw- the conclusion therefrom. The testimony of A. J. Tates showed that the place of killing was pointed out to him by some one, but by whom he did not say. He did not know, of his own knowledge, where 'the killing occurred; and it was not shown that he was correctly informed as to this, consequently his entire testimony was hearsay and should have been excluded. The testimony of Dr. Watkins about the witness Jones making a statement to him about the facts of the killing was evidently introduced in rebuttal of. the testimony of the witness Bryan. The latter had testified.of a statement made to him by Jones in the office of Dr. Watkins. Bryan stated, however, that Dir. Watkins was not present at
Reversed and'remanded.
Reference
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- Syllabus
- 1. Homicide. Instructions. Malice. Burden of proof. Sufficiency of evidence. Reasonable doubt. Self defense. Opinion evidence. Conclusion. Hearsay. Trial. Rebuttal evidence. Where in a trial for murder the state’s testimony was sufficient to sustain a conviction and the defendant’s testimony made out a case of self-defense, an instruction for the state that, if the jury believed beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant shot and killed deceased, the use of a pistol was prima facia evidence’ of malice and an intent to murder, to overcome which it must be shown that at the time of the killing defendant was then in immediate, real, or apparent danger of losing his life or suffering great bodily harm from deceased, which danger must have been present and imminent at the moment of the killing, was. erroneous, since in effect it shifted to defendant the burden of showing his innocence if the killing with a deadly weapon was shown. 2. Same. Such an instruction was further erroneous in not stating that the jury must acquit the defendant if they have a reasonable doubt of his guilt arising from the evidence or the want of evidence. 3. Criminal Law. Reasonable doubts. In the trial of a murder case an instruction that the state must ■ make out its case to a moral certainty, and until it does so, the accused is not required to do anything, and thereafter he need only raise a reasonable doubt of his innocence to entitle him to an acquittal, should have been given. 4. Homicide. Burden of proof. Self defense. It is not true that, if no excuse or justification of the killing is shown by the state’s evidence, the defendant is guilty of murder unless he has by his evidence proven the excuse and justification and an instruction announcing this law should not have been refused defendant. 5. Criminal Law. Opinion evidence. Conclusion. ' In’a-trial for murder a witness should not have been permitted to express his opinion that it “looked like there had been a crap game there,” he should have stated the facts and let the jury draw their own conclusions. 6. Criminal Law. Evidence. Hearsay. In a trial for murder the testimony of a witness, showing that the place -of the killing had been pointed out to him by some one but that he did not know of his own knowledge wnere the killing occurred, was hearsay and. inadmissible where it was not shown that he was correctly informed. 7. Criminal Law. Trial. Rebiittal. In a trial for murder where a witness testified to a statement maae to him by another witness in a doctor’s office when the doctor was not present, it was not permissible to allow the dóctor to testify what the other witnesses told him about the killing since such testimony was not in rebuttal. 8. Criminal Law. Opinion evidence. Conclusion. It was error in a murder trial to permit testimony that a witness “reckoned that another witness had a son implicated in the killing; that is what they say” since this was purely hearsay testimony.