State v. Causer
State v. Causer
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
The appellant was convicted of involuntary manslaughter under an indictment for the murder of Jim Miller with a loaded shotgun, and was sentenced to imprisonment for two years.
*517 The testimony for the State tended to show that in Sumter county on September, 1909, the deceased, a boy about eleven years old, having borrowed a shotgun- from the brother of the defendant, was out hunting with the defendant, who was about twelve years old, and two other small boys, Benjamin Miller and Raymond Causer; that defendant and deceased each wanted to carry the gun and they got into a scuffle about its possession; that defendant picked the gun up from the ground, put a shell in it and pointed it at the deceased, told him not to come any further, and upon the deceased advancing towards defendant, the gun was fired, the load entering the face at the base of the nose, penetrating the brain and causing death; that deceased exclaimed, “Oh, look, I shot Jim,” and threw the gun down and ran off, and catching up with Benjamin Miller, who was present, told him not to tell how it was done.
The testimony for the defendant was to the effect that the deceased had the gun and was pointing it at the two smaller boys, when- the defendant took the gun .and was walking off with it, and that in some unexplained way it went off, killing the deceased who had walked u'p behind. The defendant and the deceased lived in the same neighborhood and were friendly.
The judgment of the Circuit Court is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State v. Causer.
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Manslaughter. — There may be a conviction of involuntary manslaughter under an indictment for murder in usual form. 2. Ibid. — The negligent handling of a gun resulting in the death of another will support a verdict for involuntary manslaughter. 3. Evidence — Res Gestae. — Declarations of a bystander in reference to a homicide made some distance from the place and several minutes after are not within the rule of res gestae.