State v. Turner

Citations

• 29 S.C. 34
• 6 S.E. 891
• 1888 S.C. LEXIS 100

Syllabus

<p>1. In a prosecution for murder evidence of the general bad character of the deceased is irrelevant, but evidence of his bad character for violence, treachery, &c., is admissible under a plea of self-defence, if such character was probably known to the prisoner.</p> <p>2. Where it appeared that deceased had used an axe in a previous encounter with the prisoner and had then followed prisoner to his store, the character of deceased for violence was then a fact relevant to the motive of the prisoner ; and the general reputation of deceased for such character was also relevant, because, if generally known, the prisoner himself probably knew it.</p> <p>3. The judge charged the jury: “I charge you that in this particular case, if you believe the defendant’s statement that the deceased had told him, ‘God damn you, I will kill you,’ and accompanied those words by moving towards the door with an apparent purpose of putting the threat into execution immediately, then a verdict of manslaughter might be proper in the case; or if the circumstances did not prove to your satisfaction that there was malice, either express or implied.” Held, that the judge thereby erred in excluding from the jury all consideration of self-defence in connection with the facts referred to.</p> <p>4. An alleged error in a detached portion of the charge, inconsistent with the charge when considered as a whole, is not a proper ground for exception.</p>