Brown v. State

Citations

• 4 Tex. Ct. App. 275

Syllabus

<p>1. Murder — Charge of the Court. —In the trial of a murder case the court instructed the jury that “when the fact of killing has been clearly established, and it has not been shown to be the result of accident, or to have been done under such circumstances as will in law mitigate, excuse, or justify the act, the law in such case implies malice without further proof, and makes such killing murder.” Held, to he a correct proposition of law, and not amenable to the criticism that it makes malice a presumption of law, instead of an inference of fact; or that it makes the mere fact of the killing, irrespective of other evidence, impose on the defendant the burden of proof; or that it is a charge on the weight of evidence.</p> <p>2. Drunkenness.—Voluntary intoxication can constitute-no excuse for crime, nor, in cases of culpable homicide, can it reduce to the grade of manslaughter a homicide which if committed by a sober man would be murder. But when the question is between murder of the first and murder of the second degree, the fact of drunkenness may be proved to show the mental status of the accused, and thereby enable the jury to determine whether the killing resulted from a deliberate' and premeditated purpose.</p>