State v. Moore
State v. Moore
Opinion of the Court
Mary Louise Moore, the appellant herein, was indicted and tried for murder at the 1974 October Term of the Court of General Session for Florence County. At the close of the State’s case, the court reduced the charge from murder to manslaughter. The jury found the appellant guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Timely intention to appeal from the conviction and sentence was given.
The indictment charged that on July 20, 1974, the appellant did kill and murder one Robert Anthony by means of an assault, hitting and wounding him with a piece of pipe, and as a proximate result thereof he did die on July 21, 1974.
The physician who performed an autopsy gave as his medical opinion that Anthony died of brain damage which was the result of a blunt trauma to the right side of the head.
The physician who performed the surgery upon Anthony testified that when he first saw him he was suffering from a very severe head injury and that there was evidence of multiple blows to the head. He gave as his medical opinion that this man’s death was caused by head trauma inflicted by a blunt instrument.
There is ample evidence from which the jury could conclude that Anthony’s death was the result of multiple blows to the right side of his head with a blunt instrument.
It is the position of the appellant that Anthony’s death could have been caused by falling from the steel bench and striking his head upon the concrete
The jury was fully instructed that they were the sole judges of the credibility of the witnesses, and of the force and effect to be given to their testimony. They were also instructed that the defendant is presumed to be innocent and such presumption remains with her throughout the trial of the case, until her guilt is proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
The trial judge fully charged the jury upon the issue of proximate cause, as follows:
“. . . the proximate result thereof — proximate cause means the real cause, and of course, the State has the burden of showing that the real cause of his death was the assault— the alleged criminal assault made by the defendant upon the said Robert Anthony. . . .
* * *
“. . . there rests upon the State the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the death of the deceased, Robert Anthony, occurred, and that his death was caused by the criminal act, or the criminal assault of the defendant in this case. If the State has convinced you of that beyond a reasonable doubt, the verdict should be guilty. If you have a reasonable doubt as to either of those elements that reasonable doubt must be resolved in favor of the defendant.”
The appellant assigns as error the failure of the trial judge, at her request, to add to the foregoing charge “but a defendant is not responsible for independent intervening causes that are not naturally connected or foreseeable.”
We do not think that this refusal could have been prejudical to the appellant. The jury was fully instructed that it could not convict the appellant unless it found, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the death of Robert Anthony was proximately caused by the criminal act or assault of the ap
The exception of the appellant is overruled and the judgment below is,
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The STATE v. Mary Louise MOORE
- Status
- Published