Pittman v. Partin
Pittman v. Partin
Opinion of the Court
Appellee, Partin, recovered judgment in the Circuit Court of Coahoma County against appellant, Pittman, for damages of $15,000, resulting from an assault upon Partin by Pittman. Defendant has appealed without supersedeas, and makes only one assignment of error, the granting by the trial court of Instruction No. 3 for plaintiff: “The Court instructs the jury for the plaintiff that if you find from a preponderance of the evidence that while plaintiff was engaged in conversation with another person that defendant cursed him and attacked him with a knife, and that said attack caused plaintiff to fall and injure his arm as a result of said fall, then you shall find a verdict for the plaintiff.”
Plaintiff and defendant had some oral disagreements on local political issues. According to plaintiff’s version, on the occasion in question he was sitting in a chair in the lobby of a hotel, talking with a friend, Walter Ob-erst. The conversation had gone on for about twenty minutes, when suddenly and without any previous indication of hostility, Pittman, who was 79 years of age,
Pittman denied that he started the affray. He said plaintiff cursed him and “jumped up to get me,” so, “because he was after me,” defendant got out his knife and undertook to defend himself. In the scuffle, he pushed plaintiff back and he fell. Pittman denied that he had a long-blade knife, but all of the other witnesses testified to the contrary. In brief, the jury was amply warranted in finding that appellant committed an unwarranted and unprovoked assault upon appellee with a large knife, and his wrongful actions resulted in the serious and permanent injuries to appellee’s arm.
Appellant obtained four instructions setting forth in detail his theory of self-defense. The jury was amply instructed on that issue. Appellant contends that plaintiff’s instruction No. 3, quoted above, nevertheless warranted the jury in finding for plaintiff, even though defendant was acting in self-defense; and that this instruction excludes self-defense. Although it could have been more precisely drawn, so as to expressly state that the attack was “without provocation by plaintiff,” or with a similar express qualification, we think
Appellant also asserts this instruction excluded any theory of justification by insulting words used by plaintiff. Miss. Code 1942, Sec. 2525. For reasons already stated, No. 3 did not of itself exclude that defense. Moreover, defendant did not justify his assault on plaintiff by the latter’s use of any insulting words. He said he struck at Partin with his knife “because he was after me,” in self-defense. So the defense of justification was not an issue submitted to the jury. The trial court correctly refused appellant an instruction on this theory, apparently for that reason, and appellant did not assign that refusal as error. Baker v. State, 192 Miss. 406, 6 So. 2d 315 (1942).
Nowell v. Henry, 194 Miss. 310, 12 So. 2d 540 (1943) does not help appellant. The instructions condemned in that case authorized plaintiff to recover for mere abusive words without an assault. That issue is not involved here. Plaintiff claimed damages resulting from an unprovoked assault on him; defendant asserted he used his knife in self-defense. The jury was adequately instructed on
Affirmed.
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