People v. Farley

Citations

• 124 Cal. 594
• 57 P. 571
• 1899 Cal. LEXIS 1040

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law—Homicide—Evidence—Opinion of Surgeon.—Upon the trial of a defendant'accused of murder, where it appeared that the fatal bullet passed through the left arm of the deceased, about five inches from the point of the shoulder, and, passing through his body, came out at the right arm-pit, opinion evidence of the surgeon performing the autopsy that the left arm of the deceased must have been hanging down by his side when the shot was fired is inadmissible, but not harmful, if not contradicting the evidence for the defendant; but his opinion that, when the deceased was shot, he could not have been standing erect, for which there was no ground, is harmful error, where it appears that the defendant testified that deceased, when shot, was standing up and striking at him with his knife.</p> <p>Id.—Erroneous Instruction—Self-defense—Provoking Quarrel—Necessity Brought About by Design or Fault.—An instruction to the effect that one who has provoked a quarrel cannot have a well-grounded apprehension of imminent danger to his person, and that a real or apparent necessity brought about by the design, contrivance, or fault of the defendant, cannot be availed of as a defense for the commission of a crime, is erroneous, and was . expressly disapproved in People v. OonUing, 111 Cal. 625.</p> <p>Id.—Irrelevant Threats of Deceased.—Threats of the deceased not communicated to the defendant, or not appearing to have related to the defendant, are irrelevant, and may properly be stricken out.</p>