Watson v. State
Watson v. State
Opinion of the Court
The appellant was tried and convicted of simple assault and battery, and his punishment was assessed at a fine of $25.00.
The testimony adduced on behalf of the State is in substance as follows: On the night of May 6, 1934, there was a dance in progress at Central Avenue in the city of Dallas which was attended by quite a .number of negroes, including the appellant and the injured party. The appellant was a musician and on this occasion played a piano in the band. Soon after DeWitt Moore and his wife arrived at the dance, Moore gave the appellant fifty cents with which to purchase some whisky for the band boys. The appellant took the fifty cents and presently returned with half a pint of whisky, took a drink and set it down. Moore asked the appellant to pass it around to the boys and also asked what the whisky cost, to which the appellant replied, “Twenty cents.” Moore then asked the appellant to give the thirty cents to Joe Williams from whom he had borrowed the
The appellant objected to the court’s main charge on the law of self-defense because said charge failed to instruct the jury that as a matter of law the defendant may exercise the right of self-defense even though no attack had been made upon him at the time, and appellant further objected to the court’s main charge upon the ground that the court failed to charge upon the law of apparent danger. Appellant also objected to the court’s action in declining to give his special requested instruction on the law of self-defense and on the law of apparent danger. While the abstract statement of the law in the court’s charge is somewhat inaccurate, yet the court’s charge as a whole leads us to the conclusion that the court in his application of the law to the facts adequately and pertinently presented the appellant’s defensive theory as raised by 'the testimony and that no reversible error was committed by the court in declining to submit to the jury the appellant’s requested special charge. If, however, the charge was subject to the criticism addressed to it, yet it would not be such error as would authorize this court to reverse the case under art. 666, C. C. P. See also Davis v. State, 56 S. W. (2d) 449.
No reversible error appearing in the record, the judgment of the trial court is in all things affirmed.
Affirmed.
The foregoing opinion of the Commission of Appeals has been examined by the Judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals and approved by the Court.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.