State v. Underwood

Citations

• 35 Wash. 558
• 77 P. 863
• 1904 Wash. LEXIS 483

Syllabus

<p>Continuance — Criminal Law — Withdrawal of Attorney Five Days Before Trial — Discretion. Where an attorney, employed to defend against a charge of murder, withdrew from the case on the fifth day before trial, and the defense was entrusted to three other attorneys, it appearing that the facts of the case were simple and readily accessible, it was not an abuse of discretion for the trial court to deny defendant’s motion for a continuance upon the affidavits of his attorneys that it would he impossible for them to properly prepare for trial in the time remaining.</p> <p>Homicide — Different Degrees — Verdict for Lesser Degree Where Evidence Showed Higher Degree. Upon a trial for murder in the first degree In having caused the death of an infant by drowning, where the main issue was whether the death was caused by drowning or by an accidental overdose of chloroform, and there was sufficient evidence to support either theory, and the jury are instructed to find the defendant not guilty if they believe the death was caused by chloroform or entertain a reasonable doubt as to the drowning, a verdict of murder in the second degree should not he set aside upon the theory that the jury must find the defendant guilty of the first degree or not at all, and accused cannot complain that he was found guilty of a lesser degree than the evidence warranted.</p> <p>Homicide — Degrees of Offense — Instructions Proper as to Lesser Degree Although Evidence Showed First Degree Only. In a prosecution for murder in the first degree by causing the death of an infant by drowning, in which there was evidence that the defendant was guilty as charged and also that the death was accidental, the contention being that he was guilty of murder in the first degree or not at all, it is not error to instruct the jury that they may find the defendant guilty in the second degree or of manslaughter, since the deliberation and premeditation necessary to constitute the first degree, under the statute, do n