State v. McCalla

• Decision Date: 28 June 1915
• Docket Number: 9121.
• Parties: STATE v. MCCALLA.
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court

85 S.E. 720

101 S.C. 303

STATE v. MCCALLA.

No. 9121.

Supreme Court of South Carolina

June 28, 1915

Appeal from General Sessions Circuit Court of Abbeville County; Ernest Moore, Judge.

William Henry McCalla was convicted of manslaughter, and he appeals. Dismissed.

Watts, J., dissenting.

Graydon & Graydon, of Abbeville, for appellant.

R. A. Cooper, Sol., of Laurens, for the State.

GARY, C.J.

This is an appeal from the sentence imposed upon the defendant, who was convicted of manslaughter. The question is whether a person is subject to conviction for involuntary manslaughter, when he is only guilty of ordinary negligence in handling a pistol which results in the killing of a bystander. The following cases show that the exceptions raising this question cannot be sustained. State v. Gilliam, 66 S.C. 419, 45 S.E. 6; State v. Tucker, 86 S.C. 211, 68 S.E. 523; State v. Revels, 86 S.C. 213, 68 S.E. 523.

The appellant's attorneys upon request were granted permission to review said cases, but this court is satisfied that they embody sound propositions of law, and see no reasons for overruling the principles upon which they were decided.

Appeal dismissed.

HYDRICK, FRASER, and GAGE, JJ., concur.

WATTS, J.

I dissent. The judge's charge, in my opinion, was erroneous and prejudicial to the defendant. In accidental killing only is defendant guilty when he is guilty of gross negligence or criminal carelessness, and not ordinary negligence.