Territory of New Mexico v. Alarid
Territory of New Mexico v. Alarid
Opinion of the Court
OPINION OP THE COURT.
Ricardo Alarid was tried September 19,-1907, in the First District Court for Santa Fe County, on an indictment charging him with assaulting Camilo Martinez with a loaded gun, with the premeditated intention of killing him. The court instructed the jury that under the indictment the defendant might be convicted of assault with intent to kill, as charged, or of assault with a deadty weapon; and he was found guilty of the latter offense. To this the defendant excepted, and it is here claimed in' his behalf that the latter crime was not so covered, by and included in the indictment, as to warrant a conviction of it.
Another error assigned is that by an instruction given to the jury, the burden of proof was improperly imposed •on the defendant in relation to his claim that he acted in .«elf-defense. The material portion of what is complained of is this: “If you believe from the evidence in this case and beyond a reasonable doubt that immediately prior to the firing of the shot by the defendant, Camilo Martinez put his hand under his coat under such circumstances as to lead the defendant to honestly believe that the said Martinez was in the act of drawing a deadly weapon upon him, the defendant,” etc., “then I charge you,” etc. It was given on the charge of assault with intent, to kill, and if a conviction on that charge had resulted it might, no doubt, have furnished ground for reversal. As there was not such a conviction, it was, so far, harmless error. State v. Kelly, 85 Mo. 114; State v. Fritterer, 65 Mo. 424; Blackwell v. State, 32 Tex. Cr. Ap. 280; 32 S. W. 128; McCarty v. State, 58 S. W. 77; People v. Gordon, 88 Cal. 422; 26 Pac. 503; State v. Dickson, 6 Kan. 220.
Besides, as already stated, it appears on page 155 of the bill of exceptions, that immediately after the charge to the jury, and before making the request referred to, the defendant excepted generally to each of the instructions given. The erroneous direction in question forms but a small part of the fifth instruction in which it is found, and which contains other directions to the jury that are correct. A general exception to an instruction which though in part erroneous, is, in part, correct, cannot be sustained. Cooper et al., v. Schlesinger et al., 111 U. S. 148.
The other questions raised by the appellant’s assignment of errors are too well settled in this jurisdiction to require separate consideration.
The judgment of the District Court is affirmed. '
Reference
- Full Case Name
- TERRITORY OF NEW MEXICO v. RICARDO ALARID
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS (BY THE COURT.) 1. On an indictment which, charges that the defendant made an assault upon a person named, with a gun loaded with gunpowder, and a leaden ball and discharged the loaded gun at and against such person with the premeditated intent of killing him, there may properly be a conviction of assault with a deadly weapon, as all the essential elements of that crime are alleged. 2. An erroneous instruction as to assault with intent to kill does not vitiate a conviction of assault with a deadly weapon on the same indictment, unless it is made to apply to that crime as well as the other, and if it is made so applicable by request of the defendant, without calling the atten-, tion of the court to the erroneous feature of the instruction, the defendant is not entitled to a new trial on account of the error so induced. 3.. Under the circumstances disclosed in the record it was properly left to the jury to determine whether a threat made by the defendant, according to evidence for the Territory, related to the man on whom it was- alleged the defendant shortly after made the assault charged.