Cochran v. State, No. 47235
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi |
| Writing for the Court | SUGG; GILLESPIE |
| Citation | 278 So.2d 451 |
| Parties | Rayvon COCHRAN v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Docket Number | No. 47235 |
| Decision Date | 28 May 1973 |
Page 451
v.
STATE of Mississippi.
Rehearing Denied June 18, 1973.
Harry L. Kelley, Jackson, Stanford Young, Waynesboro, for appellant.
A. F. Summer, Atty. Gen., by Wayne Snuggs, Special Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
SUGG, Justice:
Appellant, Rayvon Cochran, was convicted in the Circuit Court of Wayne County, Mississippi, for the murder of Irvin Palmer and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Mississippi State Penitentiary. This conviction was reversed in Cochran v. State, 244 So.2d 22 (Miss.1971), and upon retrial appellant was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to serve a term of 16 years in the Mississippi State Penitentiary, less credit for the time spent in jail awating trial. From this last conviction, appellant perfects his appeal and assigns as error the following:
(1) The Court erred in refusing defendant's requested instruction number 2.
(2) The Court erred in refusing a preemptory (sic) instruction for appellant.
Page 452
(3) The Court erred in not granting a new trial as the verdict of the jury was against the over-whelming (sic) weight of the evidence.
In support of his first assignment of error, appellant argues that, since Palmer, the deceased, was younger and stronger than he, he was entitled to the following instruction:
The court instructs the jury for the defendant, Rayvon Cochran, that if you believe from a preponderance of the evidence that the deceased, Irvin Palmer, was much larger and stronger man than the defendant, and was capable of inflicting great and serious bodily harm upon the defendant with his hands or with either, and that the defendant had reason to believe and did believe as a man of ordinary reason that he was then and there in danger of such harm at the hands of the deceased and used a knife with which Rayvon Cochran fatally cut the deceased to protect himself from such harm then the defendant was justified and your verdict will be 'Not guilty'.
At the time of the homicide appellant weighed 140 pounds, had lost the use of his right hand, and was 43 years of age; the deceased was 23 years of age, weighed approximately 220 pounds and was in good health, but appellant did not claim that deceased threatened to given him a physical beating with his hands and feet, but was defending himself against an attack by Palmer who was armed with a deadly weapon, a knife, and that he received a cut on his leg as a result of the attack by Palmer. Under this testimony appellant was granted the following instructions:
JURY INSTRUCTION #8
The Court instructs the jury for the defendant that the law is that a man assaulted, or about to be assaulted, with a deadly weapon is not required by the law to wait until his adversary is on equal...
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Johnson v. State, 55937
...there is enough evidence to support a verdict.... The law regarding peremptory instructions in Mississippi is stated in Cochran v. State, 278 So.2d 451, 453 The rule in regard to a peremptory instruction is the same in criminal and civil cases, the rule being that when all the evidence on b......
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Clemons v. State, DP-83
...In Johnson Page 1359 v. State, 477 So.2d 196, 207 (Miss.1985), the Court said: This Court has long held, as stated in Cochran v. State, 278 So.2d 451 (Miss.1973), citing Wilson v. State, 264 So.2d 828 In a criminal prosecution, the jury may accept testimony of some witnesses and reject that......
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Johnson v. State, 55265
...of Fields's and Fairley's testimony they wished to believe or discredit. This Court has long held, as stated in Cochran v. State, 278 So.2d 451 (Miss.1973), citing Wilson v. State, 264 So.2d 828 In a criminal prosecution, the jury may accept testimony of some witnesses and reject that of ot......
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Harper v. State, 55672
...be accepted as true. Warn v. State, 349 So.2d 1055, 1056 (Miss.1977); Spikes v. State, 302 So.2d 250, 251 (Miss.1974); Cochran v. State, 278 So.2d 451, 453 (Miss.1973). The State must be given the beneift of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the credible evidence. G......