People v. Biggins

Citations

• 65 Cal. 564
• 4 P. 570
• 1884 Cal. LEXIS 632

Syllabus

<p>CamisAi. Law—Instructions—Degree of Crime. — The defendant was charged with the crime of murder, and convicted of murder of the second degree. The court instructed the jury that “insulting words, gestures, or actions will not reduce an unlawful killing from murder to manslaughter, unless the gestures or actions are such as to reasonably induce the belief of danger to life, or of great bodily harm, in the mind of the party against whom'they are used.” Held, that if the defendant reasonably believed from the “actions used” that he was in danger of losing his life or of receiving great bodily harm, the killing of his assailant was justifiable, and as there was testimony before the jury upon which they might have found a verdict of manslaughter, the instruction was erroneous.</p> <p>Id,—Confession of Demurrer.—An order allowing the prosecution in a trial for murder, to confess a demurrer to the information, followed by a direction that the district attorney file another information, is an order “to the effect” that the demurrer be allowed.</p> <p>Id.—Information—Title of Court—Name of County.—The omission to name the county in the title of an information is a technical defect, not affecting the substantial rights of the defendant when the name of the county appears in the body of the information.</p>