State v. Davis
| Decision Date | 06 May 1924 |
| Docket Number | 11495. |
| Parties | STATE v. DAVIS. |
| Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
Appeal from General Sessions Circuit Court of Sumter County; R. W. Memminger, Judge.
Peter Davis was convicted of manslaughter, and he appeals. Reversed and remanded for a new trial.
Tatum & Wood and J. I. Wilson, all of Sumter, for appellant.
Solicitor F. A. McLeod, of Sumter, for the State.
Appeal from a conviction and sentence for manslaughter. The defendant claimed that the injury which caused the death of the deceased, his wife, was caused by his stumbling over a chair as he attempted to carry her, after she had fallen in an epileptic seizure, to the bed. The circuit judge charged upon the matter of involuntary manslaughter, suggested by the defendant's explanation, that a homicide, which was the result of simple negligence upon the part of the defendant, would constitute manslaughter.
The general rule is thus stated in 29 C.J. 1155:
"It is uniformly held that it (the negligence) must be of a higher degree than is required to establish negligence (that is ordinary negligence) upon a mere civil issue."
There may be circumstances connected with the homicide, such as the situation of the parties, the character of the instrumentality carelessly handled, and others, which may convert an act, otherwise one of simple negligence, into gross or reckless negligence, and justify a conviction of manslaughter or even murder; but it was manifest error to charge that in every instance, regardless of the circumstances, an act of ordinary negligence will constitute manslaughter
The judgment of this court is that the judgment of the circuit court be reversed, and that the case be remanded to that court for a new trial.
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State v. Dixon
...Appellant seeks to find support for his contention in the cases of State v. Clardy, 73 S.C. 340, 53 S.E. 493, and State v. Davis, 128 S.C. 265, 122 S.E. 770. there is no comfort for him there. In the Clardy Case the question was one of voluntary manslaughter. In the Davis Case the only evid......
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State v. Sussewell
...Such a verdict has been frequently assimilated to a verdict of manslaughter in a case of homicide, and in the case of State v. Davis, 128 S.C. 265, 122 S.E. 770, it was held that a verdict of manslaughter predicated simple negligence cannot stand. There was evidence in the case tending to s......
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State v. Quick
...We know of no decision of this court changing the rule of law laid down in these cited cases. The appellant relies upon State v. Davis, 128 S.C. 265, 122 S.E. 770, 771. defendant in that case claimed that the injury which caused the death of his wife was due to his stumbling over a chair as......
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State v. Cameron
... ... condition stated, "in sudden heat of passion," in ... the vast majority of cases. They may have occurred not under ... the condition of "sudden heat of passion," as in a ... case of accident due to gross or reckless negligence ... State v. Davis, 128 S.C. 265, 122 S.E. 770; ... State v. Williams, 131 S.C. 294, 127 S.E. 264. The ... word "usually" necessarily implies that they may ... have occurred under other conditions than of "sudden ... heat of passion," and therefore does not constitute ... reversible error, if error at all. It is ... ...