People v. Campbell

By the Court, Rhodes, J.: Indictment for murder. The defendant was convicted of manslaughter. The errors assigned relate to the instructions.

The defendant’s .counsel complains that the Court modified the first instruction requested by him, and limited the right of the defendant to take life in self defense, to cases where the assailant is armed with a deadly weapon and has previously threatened the life of the defendant. What the Court said in connection with the defendant’s instruction was neither a modification nor a qualification of the instruction. It was merely a hypothetical case, stated as an illustration of the rule laid down in the charge, and the case stated was clearly within the rule. It was not intended to say, and the jury could not have understood the Court to mean, that the case was the rule, and that any case .that did not contain all the conditions, facts, or qualities of the one given would not fall within the rule embodied in the instruction, for it was stated [314]only as an example, and to. make it the more apparent that such was the purpose, it began with the words “ as for instance.”

Legal justification or excu,se for taking life.

The Court was justified 'in refusing the defendant’s sixth instruction. It first defines manslaughter substantially in the language of the statute, and states as an inference from the terms conrposing the definition, that if “ the jury find that the prisoner had any legal justification or excuse for discharging his loaded pistol at the deceased, giving him thereby a mortal wound, they cannot find him guilty of manslaughter.” It admits of doubt whether this is sufficiently qualified—whether any legal justification or excuse for the act means necessarily, that the act was done in necessary self defense. But passing that by, we come to that portion of the instruction which is the most objectionable. The instrqction proceeds to give the reason for the inference, as follows: “ For if the use of a deadly weapon be justifiable or excusable, any consequence resulting from its use will also be justifiable ; as the law does not attempt to measure the degree of force which a man may use to repel an assault, nor will it punish him if he use more than is absolutely necessary.” It is an elementary principle in criminal law that the person assaulted, is justified in using so much force as is necessary to his defense. To repel a slight assault the person assaulted is not authorized to resort to measures of great violence. He will not be justified "in doing those acts that are calculated to destroy the life of the assailant unless the assault is of such a character as to endanger his life or inflict on him great bodily injury, or to excite his fears as a reasonable man that such would be the result of the assault. And so in all cases of assault. The law limits him to such acts as are necessary to self defense. The law does measure the degree of the force that majr be used to repel the assault; and although it will not make the measurement with a nice hand and hold the person assaulted to