Vandermark v. People

Citations

• 47 Ill. 122

Syllabus

<p>1. Criminal law—what constitutes malice. Where a party charged with an assault with intent to commit murder, inists that the prosecuting witness was shot by accident, and it was proved that the shooting was done recklessly, regardless of the lives of others, the .act of such party will be construed as implying general malice, rendering him amenable to the penalties of the law.</p> <p>2. Evidence—where insufficient to convict. Where the evidence shows that a party charged with an assault with intent to kill, was attacked with a deadly weapon, without notice of his danger, and used his pistol in self-defense, and the evidence fails to show that he shot at, or even towards the prosecuting witness, such evidence fails to sustain the verdict of guilty as against him.</p> <p>3. Indictment—of the particular description of the party injuredby name. It is a rule of pleading, that the name of .the person receiving the injury, when known, must be set out in the indictment; but where the person is described in the indictment by the initials of his Christian name, and is as well known by such initials as by his full name, which is a question for the jury to determine, no error is committed.</p>