State v. McPhail

Citations

• 39 Wash. 199
• 81 P. 683
• 1905 Wash. LEXIS 843

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law—-Homicide—Insanity—Evidence — Previous Encounter-—-Rebuttal'Testimony Reflecting on Character — Objections. In a prosecution for murder, where the testimony of the accused supports a plea of insanity, superinduced by a blow on the head received six months previously in an encounter with a third person, evidence in rebuttal, offered to show the nature and extent- of such injuries, is not objectionable as tending to prove the bad character of the accused, although unnecessary details of the trouble were received in evidence under one general objection that it was not proper rebuttal; since the evidence was strictly in rebuttal and competent for the purpose offered.</p> <p>Criminal Law—Trial—Instructions—Province op Jury—Specific Request. An instruction that the jury are judges of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight of the evidence, is proper and sufficient, in the absence of any specific request for an instruction that they are the “sole judges of the facts.”</p> <p>Same—Instructions—Trial—Withdrawal op Issue as to Lesser Degree op Offense—Comment on Pacts—Want op Evidence. In a prosecution for murder in the first degree, an instruction to the jury that there is no evidence in the case to support a verdict of manslaughter, ’is not an unlawful comment on the facts, in violation of Const, art. 4, § 16; since the determination of the issues raised in a cause, and whether there is any evidence in support thereof, are questions of law and not of fact.</p> <p>Same — Instructions as to Manslaughter on Prosecution for Murder—No Evidence of Lesser Offense. In a prosecution for murder in the first degree, the court is not required to give any instructions upon the lesser offense of manslaughter, where there is no evidence on which to base such an instruction.</p> <p>Same—Evidence of Manslaughter—Defense of Insanity. In a prosecution for murder in the first degree, there is no evidence that the accused was guilty of manslaughter, as defined by the sta