State v. Prince
| Decision Date | 22 September 1943 |
| Docket Number | 1. |
| Parties | STATE v. PRINCE. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Criminal prosecution upon an indictment charging defendant with murder of one Clarence Cable.
In the trial court the defendant entered plea of not guilty and relied upon a plea of self-defense.
On the call of the case for trial the solicitor for the State announced in open court that the State would not ask for a verdict of murder in the first degree, but would ask for a verdict of murder in the second degree or manslaughter as the facts may warrant.
Verdict Guilty of murder in the second degree.
Judgment Confinement in State Prison for a term of not less than 20 nor more than 25 years.
The defendant appeals to the Supreme Court and assigns error.
Harry M. McMullan, Atty. Gen., and George B. Patton and Hughes J. Rhodes, Asst. Attys. Gen., for the State.
B.C Jones, of Bryson City, and R.B. Morphew and R.L. Phillips both of Robbinsville, for defendant appellant.
Portions of the charge to the jury, to which assignments of error 7 and 8 are directed and well taken, affect substantial right of defendant and exceptions thereto entitle him to a new trial.
It appears in the record on appeal that the court, after charging the jury with respect to the presumptions arising upon the admission or proof of an intentional killing of a human being with a deadly weapon, properly charged that upon such admission or proof the burden is upon the defendant to show to the satisfaction of the jury facts and circumstances sufficient to excuse the homicide or to reduce it to manslaughter. State v. Capps, 134 N.C. 622, 46 S.E. 730; State v. Quick, 150 N.C. 820, 64 S.E. 168; State v. Gregory, 203 N.C. 528, 166 S.E. 387; State v. Terrell, 212 N.C. 145, 193 S.E. 161; State v. Bright, 215 N.C. 537, 2 S.E.2d 541; State v. Sheek, 219 N.C. 811, 15 S.E.2d 282, and numerous other cases. Then, after stating that to meet this burden defendant is not required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the facts upon which he relies in excuse or mitigation of the homicide, and after defining reasonable doubt, the court continued with the portions to which the above exceptions relate as follows: ...
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State v. Harris
... ... Steele, 190 N.C. 506, 130 S.E. 308. 'To the ... satisfaction of the jury' means such as satisfies the ... jury of the truth of the matter. State v. Brittain, supra; ... State v. Ellick, supra. 'The greater weight of the ... evidence' may or may not satisfy the jury. State v ... Prince, 223 N.C. 392, 26 S.E.2d 875, 876. The jury alone ... is the judge of ... [28 S.E.2d 238.] ... its satisfaction. See Williams v. Blue Ridge Bldg. & Loan ... Ass'n, 207 N.C. 362, 177 S.E. 176. One who would shelter ... himself under a plea of insanity must satisfy the jury [223 ... N.C. 704] ... ...
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State v. Freeman, 14
... ... Prince, 223 N.C. 392, 26 S.E.2d 875, and also in State v. Calloway, 1 N.C.App. 150, 160 S.E.2d 501. These cases enunciate and reiterate the rule--established in our law for over one hundred years, State v. Willis, 63 N.C. 26 (1868)--that when the burden rests upon an accused to establish an affirmative ... ...
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State v. De Graffenreid
... ... the jury that the killing was without malice if he would ... [27 S.E.2d 133.] ... conviction of murder in the second degree, and that it was ... justifiable if he would avoid a conviction of manslaughter ... State v. Sheek, 219 N.C. 811, 15 S.E.2d 282; ... State v. Prince, 223 N.C. 392, 26 S.E.2d 875. But at ... the threshold of the case the burden is on the State to ... establish the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt ... State v. Baker, 222 N.C. 428, 23 S.E.2d 340; ... State v. Redman, 217 N.C. 483, 8 S.E.2d 623. Hence, ... the intermediate steps ... ...
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State v. Childress
... ... reduce the offense to manslaughter, and altogether by showing ... self-defense, unavoidable accident or misadventure, which ... would excuse the homicide and deprive it of any unlawfulness ... State v. Snead, 228 N.C. 37, 44 S.E.2d 359; ... State v. Prince, 223 N.C. 392, 26 S.E.2d 875; ... State v. Keaton, 206 N.C. 682, 175 S.E. 296. The ... presumptions do not arise from the mere fact of a killing ... with a deadly weapon. State v. Debnam, 222 N.C. 266, ... 22 S.E. 2d 562; State v. Gregory, 203 N.C. 528, 166 ... S.E. 387; State v. Horton, 139 ... ...