Maston v. State

Citations

• 83 Miss. 647

Syllabus

<p>1. CRIMINAL Law. Murder. Instructions. Code 1892, § 732. Evidence. Insanity.</p> <p>Under Code 1892, $732, prohibiting charges on the weight of evidence, an instruction for the state in a murder case, in which insanity is pleaded as a defense, is violative of the statute and erroneous, if it tell the jury to consider certain evidence only in determining whether the defendant was sane- or insane, and, if they find him to have been sane, not to consider it as matter of justification, palliation or excuse of the crime.</p> <p>'2. Same. Jury to determine weight of evidence.</p> <p>What weight is to be given testimony, and what inferences can be logically deduced from it] are questions submitted, under the statute, solely to the judgment of the jury.</p> <p>.3. Same. Character for-peace. Code 1892, $ 1151.</p> <p>The defendant in a prosecution for murder may offer evidence of his general reputation for peace or violence, especially under Code 1892, § 1151, empowering the jury to fix imprisonment for life in the penitentiary, in lieu of death, as the punishment in case of conviction, although:</p> <p>(a) The facts of the homicide have been proved by direct testimony; and</p> <p>(5) The judge deems the fact of guilt clearly established; and</p> <p><c) The defendant relies upon insanity as a defense.</p>