Granberry v. State

• Decision Date: 18 December 1913
• Parties: GRANBERRY v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

63 So. 975

184 Ala. 5

GRANBERRY v. STATE.

Supreme Court of Alabama

December 18, 1913

Appeal from Law and Equity Court, Lee County; Lum Duke, Judge.

Hill Granberry was convicted of murder in the first degree sentenced to be hanged, and appeals. Affirmed.

See also, 62 So. 52.

The following are the charges referred to in the opinion:

"(I) I charge you, gentlemen of the jury, that in order for this defendant to be responsible for the crime with which he is charged, he must have had sufficient power of memory to recollect the relation in which he stood to others, and in which others stand to him; that the act he was doing was contrary to the plain dictates of justice and right, and injurious to others, and a violation of the dictates of duty."

"(L) I charge you, gentlemen of the jury, that if you believe from the evidence that defendant was not in possession of all of his reasoning faculties at the time of the alleged murder, you cannot convict defendant of murder in the first degree."

Henry K. Dickinson and John K. Watkins, both of Opelika, for appellant.

R.C. Brickell, Atty. Gen., and W.L. Martin, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

ANDERSON J.

The trial court had a discretion, under section 7178 of the Code of 1907, as to granting the defendant's motion to execute an inquisition as to his mental status at the time of the trial.

There was no error in permitting the witness Betts to prove that the body of the deceased was lying on the Chambers county side, 125 to 150 yards from the county line between Lee and Chambers counties. The witness did not have to be an expert surveyor or see the line surveyed in order to tell where the line was between the two counties. He testified to what was generally known and considered as the line for years, and, whether his testimony as to where the line is was technically accurate or not, it was sufficient to make out a prima facie case that the homicide was committed so near the county boundary as to make it within a quarter of a mile of Lee county, or to make it doubtful as to whether the offense was committed in Lee or Chambers county so as to give either county jurisdiction under the terms of section 7229 of the Code of 1907. This applies to the testimony of Duff Wallace also as to the location of the killing.

There was no error in permitting the state to prove by the witness Wilson Berry the conversation heard by him between the defendant and Dr. Lightning as to playing crazy in order to be sent to Mt. Vernon and not get hung, and that defendant said he would do so. This was a circumstance tending to show that the insanity was pretended and not real. The record does not disclose when this conversation occurred, that is whether before or after the plea of insanity was first interposed, but if afterwards, this...