King v. State

Decision Date06 April 1920
Docket Number8 Div. 701
PartiesKING v. STATE.
CourtAlabama Court of Appeals

Appeal from Circuit Court, Limestone County; Robert C. Brickell Judge.

Heck King was convicted of murder in the second degree, and he appeals. Affirmed.

Fred Wall, of Athens, for appellant.

J.Q Smith, Atty. Gen., for the State.

MERRITT J.

The defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to the penitentiary for 20 years. The questions raised by the appeal refer to the refusal of the trial court to permit the introduction of certain evidence offered by the defendant and the refusal of the trial court to give a certain written charge requested by the defendant.

The killing was shown to have taken place at the home of the defendant between sundown and dark, that the deceased and accused were brothers, and that bad feeling existed between them. The defendant was shown to be a cripple suffering from a broken leg, and the tendency of his testimony, if believed showed an unprovoked attempt on the part of his brother to take his life, and that the killing was justifiable. On the other hand, the testimony on the part of the state tended to show that the homicide was not justifiable.

The first insistence of the defendant is that he was not permitted to show that his brother, the deceased, had threatened his life on the morning of the day of the killing. A reading of the evidence discloses that on the direct examination of the defendant the court refused to permit the defendant to make proof of this fact, one or two times; but it also appears on cross-examination that the defendant stated: "He told me that morning, at that time, he told me he was going to kill me." So it appears that the defendant's contention in this respect is not well founded.

After the defendant had testified, the tendency of his evidence being to establish his plea of self-defense, the defendant offered to prove the character of the deceased for peace and quiet in the community in which he lived. This the court refused to allow. This testimony of the character of the deceased, not being coupled with his character as a violent, dangerous, turbulent, and blood-thirsty man, was properly excluded. Steven Tribble v. State, 145 Ala. 23, 40 So. 938; Cleveland v. State, 86 Ala. 1, 5 So. 426; Smith v. State, 88 Ala. 73, 7 So. 52; Rhea v. State, 100 Ala. 119, 14 So. 853.

The written refused charge was argumentative...

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4 cases
  • Wilson v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • December 15, 1942
    ... ... without coupling such proof with proof of whether or not he ... was a violent, dangerous, bloodthirsty, turbulent man, even ... where there was some evidence of self-defense on part of ... defendant." Tribble v. State, 145 Ala. 23, ... Headnote 1, 40 So. 938, 939; King v. State, 17 ... Ala.App. 381, 85 So. 876; Dyson v. State, 28 ... Ala.App. 549, 189 So. 784. So, if the trial court had adhered ... to his ruling forbidding Stewart to answer defendant's ... counsel's question, "Do ... [11 So.2d 567] ... you know, or do you think you know his general ... ...
  • Mitchell v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • April 23, 1974
    ...there was some evidence of self-defense on part of defendant.' Tribble v. State, 145 Ala. 23, Headnote 1, 40 So. 938, 939; King v. State, 17 Ala.App. 381, 85 So. 876; Dyson v. State, 28 All.App. 549, 189 So. Nor was there any evidence of self-defense at this stage of the trial. Farley v. St......
  • Sandoval v. People
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court
    • March 15, 1948
    ... ... This being true, ... the court properly refused to give defendant's tendered ... instruction No. 2. King v. State, 17 Ala.App. 381, ... 85 So. 876 ... The ... judgment is affirmed ... HILLIARD ... and HAYS, JJ., ... ...
  • Allen v. Stradford
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • June 15, 1920

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