People v. Watson

Citations

• 125 Cal. 342
• 57 P. 1071
• 1899 Cal. LEXIS 860

Syllabus

<p>Cbiminal Law—Assault with Intent to Murder—Question of Fact.—Upon the trial of a charge of assault with intent to commit murder, the question as to the intent with which the acts were.done by the defendant, is one purely of fact, to be determined from all the circumstances of the case surrounding the assault.</p> <p>Id.—Assault with Deadly Weapon—Under a charge of assault with intent to commit murder, the defendant may, if the evidence justifies it, be convicted pursuant to section 245 of the Penal Code, of an assault with a deadly weapon, or by means and force likely to produce great bodily injury.</p> <p>Id.—Improper Omission in Instruction.—An instruction to the jury under a charge of assault with intent to commit murder, that the form of their verdict must be either not guilty, or guilty as charged, or guilty of an assault, is prejudicially erroneous in omitting the possibility of a conviction under section 245 of the Penal Code, where the evidence will justify such conviction. Such omission is the equivalent of a refusal to instruct that such conviction could be had under evidence justifying it.</p>