Benson v. Commonwealth
| Decision Date | 22 May 1942 |
| Citation | 162 S.W.2d 538,290 Ky. 713 |
| Parties | BENSON v. COMMONWEALTH. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Muhlenberg County; Clarence Bartlett Judge.
James Chester Benson was convicted of murder, and he appeals.
Reversed with directions.
Sam T Jarvis and Alfred C. Ross, both of Greenville, for appellant.
Hubert Meredith, Atty. Gen., and Wm. F. Neill, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
On the trial of the appellant, James Chester Benson, for the murder of Martha Dell Vincent, a girl 19 years of age with whom he had been keeping company for more than a year, no instruction was given on self-defense or authorizing a conviction on any lower degree of the crime. The jury found him guilty of murder and fixed his punishment at death and from the judgment entered on that verdict this appeal is prosecuted.
Since the sole ground urged for reversal is error in failing to give the whole law of the case, there is no necessity to recite the evidence or comment thereon further than to say that it was wholly circumstantial, that there was strong evidence of a violent struggle at the time the deceased met her death, that no eyewitness testified and that the accused although he testified and denied any knowledge of the killing, did not testify as to any facts indicating the manner in which the deceased met her death.
Beginning with Rutherford v. Com., 13 Bush 608, many cases dealing with the question before us have been decided in this court. From these cases, and particularly from the comparatively recent cases of McClerkin v. Com., 221 Ky. 689, 299 S.W. 570; Bond v. Com., 257 Ky. 366, 78 S.W.2d 1; Sewell v. Com., 284 Ky. 183, 144 S.W.2d 223; Bates v. Com., 284 Ky. 1, 143 S.W.2d 730; Davenport v. Com., 285 Ky. 628, 148 S.W.2d 1054; and Crenshaw v. Com., 227 Ky. 223, 12 S.W.2d 336, a clear cut and definite rule has emerged which may be stated as follows: that on the trial of a murder case voluntary manslaughter and self-defense instructions must be given where the evidence is wholly circumstantial, there is evidence of a struggle, no eyewitness testifies and the accused fails to testify or, although a witness, does not testify as to any facts indicating the manner in which the deceased met death; and, further, that if there is a justifiable inference of involuntary manslaughter from the proven circumstances an instruction with reference thereto should be given.
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Grimes v. McAnulty
...v. Commonwealth, Ky., 272 S.W.2d 325, 326 (1954); see also, Pennington v. Commonwealth, Ky., 344 S.W.2d 407 (1961); Benson v. Commonwealth, 290 Ky. 713, 162 S.W.2d 538 (1942); Rutherford v. Commonwealth, 76 Ky. (13 Bush) 608 (1878). However, Appellant did choose to testify in her own Appell......
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Grimes v. McAnulty
...v. Commonwealth, Ky., 272 S.W.2d 325, 326 (1954); see also, Pennington v. Commonwealth, Ky., 344 S.W.2d 407 (1961); Benson v. Commonwealth, 290 Ky. 713, 162 S.W.2d 538 (1942); Rutherford v. Commonwealth, 76 Ky. (13 Bush) 608 (1878). However, Appellant did choose to testify in her own [67] A......
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...in order to receive an instruction on self-defense. See Hasty v. Commonwealth, 272 S.W.2d 325, 326 (Ky.1954); Benson v. Commonwealth, 290 Ky. 713, 162 S.W.2d 538 (1942); Rutherford v. Commonwealth, 76 Ky. (13 Bush) 608 (1878). In Hasty, supra, the predecessor to this Court Concerning the qu......
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