People v. Alexander

SHAW, J.

Defendant was convicted of the crime of mayhem in that she maliciously and unlawfully destroyed the eye of one Moran Watson. She has appealed from the judgment pronounced and an order denying her motion for a new trial.

The first contention of appellant is that the verdict is contrary to the evidence and shows that in inflicting the injury upon Watson she acted in self-defense. There is ample testimony, if believed by the jury, to establish the following facts, namely: That for nearly a year Watson had been on terms of intimate acquaintance with defendant; that on the morning of March 22, 1921, she phoned him that she would be at the house of a friend in the afternoon. Watson, accompanied by a friend called Smitty, went to this house, where they found defendant and her friend, Mrs. Pinkie Pride. The four left for defendant’s house, some two or three blocks distant. On the way defendant gave the key to the house to Mrs. Pride, and left the party to perform some errand. Upon arriving at the house Mrs. Pride unlocked the door and the three entered. Soon thereafter defendant arrived at the house and, seeing a bottle of whisky on the table, proceeded through the kitchen and threw it away. Then, getting the knife, she went to the front, room, where Mrs. Pride and Watson were dancing or engaged in a playful scuffle, which she ordered discontinued, saying that the neighbors would think she was running a rough house. Thereafter she and Watson engaged in a scuffle which ended by her ordering both Watson and Smitty to leave the house. The latter left through the front door, and Watson, having been told by defendant upon other visits to always leave by way of the back door, started out through the kitchen door. He had reached the door, in front of which stood a chair, which he kicked out of place, and while in the act of unlatching the door, defendant struck him twice with the knife, the second stroke reaching his eye and cutting it, as a result of which it was removed. It further appears that Mrs. Pride had told defendant of

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Watson’s flirtations with some other woman, as a result of which she was greatly displeased and at the time, by her manner, indicated her displeasure toward Watson, who, due to her slapping and striking at him, engaged in the scuffle with her.

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