People v. Donegan

WHITE, J.

In an information filed by the district attorney of Los Angeles County, the defendant was charged with murder, it being alleged that she unlawfully and with malice aforethought killed one William Walter Donegan, who was her divorced husband. Pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity were interposed by defendant. She was subsequently placed upon trial and the jury returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty of murder in the second degree. Upon the issue raised by the plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, the same jury upon a further trial found that the defendant was sane at the time of the commission of the homicide.

The single ground upon which appellant urges a reversal is that the trial court erred in the giving of certain instructions to the jury on the law of insanity as applied to criminal cases where a defendant seeks to excuse an unlawful act upon the ground that at the time of its commission she was so deranged and diseased mentally that she was not conscious of the wrongful nature of the act committed.

Briefly, appellant contended on the issue of not guilty by reason of insanity that for some six years prior to the homicide she suffered from “spells” which produced a dazed condition when “everything went black, I couldn’t see, lost consciousness”; that these “spells” occurred from a month to three months apart. There was evidence given by eyewitnesses to these “spells” that when appellant was seized with one she would “faint—appear unconscious—her body become rigid—she frothed at the mouth—her muscles would stiffen and her mouth would twitch”. Appellant herself testified that some three weeks before the murder she purchased a pistol because the deceased had threatened to kill her and she was afraid of him; that on the night of the shooting, June 30, 1938, about 9 o’clock P. M., she arrived at the home of her former husband, where her two children were then domiciled; that she had the gun in her purse. Appellant’s testimony as to what happened just

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preceding the killing and immediately thereafter is as follows:

“Q. Now, when you entered the living room did you see anyone in there in the living room? A. No. Q. And from the living room, where, if any place, did you go ? A. Into the kitchen. Q. All right. And did you see anyone in the kitchen? A. When I got into the kitchen my little boy jumped up and come running to me. Q. Where did he come from? A. From the bedroom. Q. From the bedroom? A. Yes. Q. And did you see Mr. Donegan there at that time? A. Yes. Q. Where was Mr. Donegan? A. He was in bed. Q. And what next did you do? A. When the little boy ran to me Mr. Donegan jumped out of bed. Q. What, if anything, did he do? A. He grabbed hold of me. Q. Now, at the time the little boy came running to you did you have a gun in your hand? A. No. Q. You say Mr. Donegan jumped out of bed and grabbed hold of you? A. Yes. Q. What, if anything, did he do to you? A. He grabbed hold of my throat. Q. What did he do when he grabbed hold of your throat? A. I don’t remember exactly. I just remember there was a struggle. Q. There was a struggle? A. Yes. Q. Were you afraid that Mr. Donegan might harm you at that time? A. Yes. Q. When you saw him coming towards you were you afraid that he might even kill you? A. Yes. Q.