Kouns v. State

Citations

• 3 Tex. Ct. App. 13

Syllabus

<p>1. Charge of the Court. — The offense specifically charged in the indictment constitutes the case to which the evidence and the instructions of the court should he directed, and they should he restricted thereto unless that he an offense which includes minor degrees, and the facts call for instructions on such degrees.</p> <p>2. Same — Case Stated.—Indictment charged an aggravated assault “with a certain chair, a deadly weapon.” The court gave in charge to the jury, not only the clause of the Code pertinent to aggravated assaults with deadly weapons, hut also two other clauses relevant to such assaults committed under • different circumstances. Held, that such a charge was liable to mislead the jury, and, therefore, it was error to refuse to instruct them not to convict unless the assault was committed with a chair, and the chair, as used, was a deadly weapon.</p> <p>3. Same — “Deadly Weapon.”—When an indictment charges an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and, as in the present case, specifies a weapon which, according to its use, may or may not he a deadly weapon, the jury should he instructed as to the meaning of the phrase, “a deadly weapon,” in its application to the case made hy the evidence.</p>