223 Pa. 573 | Pa. | 1909
The only defense set up at the trial was that of insanity, and
The power to distinguish between right and wrong is not always the only test of responsibility, since this power may exist without the power of self-control. And there was some expert testimony to the effect that the appellant was suffering from a species of latent insanity, a characteristic manifestation of which is a sudden, irresistible, maniacal outburst of temporary duration. There was not, however, the slightest evidence that his conduct, at the time of the murder or at any time before or after, suggested a lack of control because of mental disease, or that his mind was dominated by an irresistible impulse. The facts are very clearly stated in the following extract from the opinion of the learned judge in refusing a new trial: “In the history of defendant’s life since he came to this country, particularly since he married the woman he killed, there was nothing to indicate that he was the subject of sudden maniacal outbursts. And his conduct during the whole of the day on which the homicide occurred shows that he was cool, rational and in full control of his acts. The evidence shows that he had been in the habit of locking his young wife in the house. On the morning of the day of the killing he went to his work as usual. About ten o’clock he was informed that his wife had left his house, and had gone to her sister’s house. He left his work then and walked home. He changed his clothes, took the revolver out of a bureau drawer, put it in his pocket and went to seek his wife. Finding her in her sister’s
The instruction given was all that the facts developed at the trial called for. The appellant, however, had the advantage, in the answers to special requests for charge, of full and admittedly accurate instructions on the want of mental control.
The judgment of the court is affirmed, and the record is remitted to the court of oyer and terminer of Lackawanna county that the judgment may be carried into execution according to law.