Powers v. State

Citations

• 74 Miss. 777

Syllabus

<p>1. Criminal Law. Reasonable doubt. Instruction.</p> <p>An instruction which undertakes to define a reasonable doubt ought not to be given. Brown v. State, 72 Miss., 95; Bu/rt v. State, lb. 408, approved.</p> <p>3. Same. Evidence. Character.</p> <p>Evidence of the good character of the accused should be left to the jury without any instruction from the court as to its value.</p> <p>3. Same. Declaration to accused by deceased. Dying declaration. Conclusion.</p> <p>A statement by decedent, otherwise admissible as a dying declaration, made to the accused in these words: “You have killed me without cause,” is not incompetent because the expression of a mere conclusion.</p>