Poe v. Com.
| Decision Date | 03 May 1957 |
| Citation | 301 S.W.2d 900 |
| Parties | Nevalene POE, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
Franklin & Franklin, Moore & Morrow, Madisonville, for appellant.
Jo M. Ferguson, Atty. Gen., John B. Browning, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Nevalene Poe, the appellant, and her husband, Jasper, were indicted Jointly for the murder of Will Pollard. Pollard was shot during a dispute concerning Poe's right to use a water well formerly on the Pollard farm, but at the time of the shooting apparently it was located on the highway right of way. At the trial, the Poes maintained that Nevalene Poe shot Pollard in defense of herself and her husband. Jasper was acquitted; Nevalene was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, and sentenced to prison for two years.
This appeal involves questions of law alone. The first error asserted by the appellant concerns the instructions given, over objection, by the trial judge. They were patterned closely upon the instructions set out in Stanley's Instructions to Juries, section 869, and approved by this Court in Saylor v. Commonwealth, 210 Ky. 796, 276 S.W. 841. These instructions have been given many times since their approval, and so far as we have been able to determine this is the first time a question has been raised as to their propriety. The appellant's objections are twofold: (1) The trial judge failed to give a 'reasonable doubt' instruction; and (2) Instruction VI authorized the jury to find the accused guilty of voluntary manslaughter if they entertained a reasonable doubt of her having been proven guilty of any offense. The Criminal Code of Practice, § 238, provides: 'If there be a reasonable doubt of the defendant being proven to be guilty, he is entitled to an acquittal.' Failure to give an instruction on reasonable doubt on the whole case constitutes reversible error. Lindon v. Commonwealth, 257 Ky. 746, 79 S.W.2d 202. While it is the better practice to follow the language of the Criminal Code in giving the instruction (see Brown v. Commonwealth, 198 Ky. 663, 249 S.W. 777), instructions embodying the essence of section 238 are sufficient even though the language of that section is not followed literally. Charles v. Commonwealth, 222 Ky. 99, 300 S.W. 357.
Instructions were given covering murder and voluntary manslaughter, self-defense, the negative of self-defense, and the penalties applicable to each crime. Instruction VI reads:
'If you shall have a reasonable doubt from the evidence of the defendant, Nevoline Poe, having been proven guilty or if you believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Nevoline Poe, has been proven guilty, but entertain a reasonable doubt from the evidence as to whether her crime be wilful murder or voluntary manslaughter as those defenses are defined in these instructions, then you ought to find her guilty of voluntary manslaughter and fix her punishment as provided in instruction No. II.'
Instruction VI is an attempted combination of an instruction on reasonable doubt on the whole case and one on conviction of a lesser offense. The reasonable doubt on the whole case portion of the instruction is incomplete; it does not require the jury to acquit Nevalene Poe if they have a reasonable doubt of her guilt. Furthermore, it...
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Berry v. State
...State's burden of justification is often difficult to sustain. People v. Chavez, 50 Cal.2d 778, 329 P.2d 907 (1958); Poe v. Commonwealth, Ky.App., 301 S.W.2d 900 (1957). Failure of the defense to dispute the testimony that the photographs illustrate may have the same effect. People v. Falkn......
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Adkins v. Com., 2001-SC-0086-MR.
...Epperson v. Commonwealth, Ky., 809 S.W.2d 835, 843 (1990); Brown v. Commonwealth, Ky., 558 S.W.2d 599, 605 (1977); Poe v. Commonwealth, Ky., 301 S.W.2d 900, 902 (1957). The rule prohibiting the exhibition of inflammatory evidence to a jury does not preclude the revelation of the true facts ......
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State v. Banks
...State's burden of justification is often difficult to sustain. People v. Chavez, 50 Cal.2d 778, 329 P.2d 907 (1958); Poe v. Commonwealth, Ky.App., 301 S.W.2d 900 (1957). Failure of the defense to dispute the testimony that the photographs illustrate may have the same effect. People v. Falkn......
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State v. Isaac, W2018-00871-CCA-R3-CD
...the State's burden is often difficult to meet. Id. (citing People v. Chavez, 329 P.2d 907, 916 (Cal. 1958); Poe v. Commonwealth, 301 S.W.2d 900, 902-03 (Ky. 1957); People v. Falkner, 209 N.W.2d 193,194 (Mich. 1973); State v. Bucanis, 138 A.2d 739, 743-44 (N.J. 1958)). "As a general rule, wh......