Daniels v. State

Citations

• 18 Del. 586
• 2 Penne. 586
• 48 A. 196
• 1901 Del. LEXIS 1

Syllabus

<p>Writ of Error—Criminal Law—Charging Jury—Stare Decisis— Character Evidence.</p> <p>1. It is not error for the Court to refuse to instruct the jury under a request which assumes the existence of a fact to be established by evidence.</p> <p>2. The rule stare decisis has for its object the salutary effect of uniformity, certainty and stability in the law.</p> <p>3. The decisions of the Court of Oyer and Terminer and the Court of General Sessions were not reviewable by the Supreme Court prior to the adoption of the Constitution of 1897, and they will not be departed from by the Supreme Court unless it be satisfied that they are clearly erroneous.</p> <p>4. The doctrine of stare decisis applies with peculiar force to decisions respecting real property, vested rights, and those matters of general commercial importance which tend to influence future business transactions; but questions, as where personal liberty is involved, will be met by considerations which favor certainty and stability in the law.</p> <p>5. The question respecting the proper relation of character evidence to the other evidence in the case does not involve any of those essentially important rights and interests favored by the doctrine of precedents.</p> <p>6. While character evidence is not a defense, it is a circumstance in the antecedent conduct and habits of the accused, its purpose being to strengthen the legal presumption of innocence.</p> <p>7. Character evidence is to be weighed and estimated by the jury according to the weight of the testimony by which it is supported in connection with that to which it is opposed.</p>