Jennings v. State

Citations

• 7 Tex. Ct. App. 350

Syllabus

<p>1. Murder. —Between the elements and definition of murder at common law and of murder under the Penal Code of this State there is no material difference, arid therefore common-law indictments for that offence have always been held hy our courts to be sufficient in substance.</p> <p>2. Manslaughter under the Code of this State differs materially in its elements, definition, and penalty from that offence at common law, b'y which, although a felony, its punishment, under the operation of the benefit of clergy, was practically reduced to that of a misdemeanor. At common law it was defined as the unlawful and felonious killing of another, without malice express or implied; whereas our Code defines it as “voluntary homicide, committed under the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause, hut neither justified nor excused by law.” One consequence of these differences is that a common-law indictment for manslaughter is not sufficient to charge that offence in this State. See the opinion in elucidation and the indictment in illustration of this subject.</p> <p>3. Pleading. — The Code of this State requires that an indictment shall set forth the offence “ in plain and intelligible words; ” and this requirement is not satisfied by an indictment, such as a common-law indictment for manslaughter, from which no offence against the law of this State can be deduced except by a process of inference and elimination.</p>