Jones v. State

Citations

• 79 Miss. 309

Syllabus

<p>1. CRIMINAL Law. Evidence. Admissibility. Dying declcm'aiAon. Opinion. Fact.</p> <p>The admissibility of a dying declaration is to be determined by the court, and where the declaration is manifestly the statement of an opinion, although in form one of fact, it is inadmissible.</p> <p>2. Same.</p> <p>If it be unreasonable to construe a dying declaration as one of fact, its admission in evidence, over objection, will be reversible error, although the jury be instructed to disregard it if from the evidence they believe it was the mere expression of an opinion.</p> <p>3. Same.</p> <p>In the trial of a murder case, where the only issue is who did the killing, the dying declaration of the decedent to the effect that the defendant shot her, is inadmissible if it be manifest from the surroundings that the declarant could not have seen, or otherwise known, the party who fired the fatal shot.</p>