41 Ga. App. 495 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1930
The indictment charged that the defendants Grady Looney and Theo Christian, “feloniously and with malice aforethought, with certain gasoline, matches, and fire, the same being instruments, substances, and materials used in a manner likely to produce death, and as used by the said Grady Looney and Theo Christian were weapons likely to produce death, in and upon one William Jewell . . did make an assault with the intent the said William Jewell to kill and murder, . . and with malice aforethought throw and pour said gasoline upon the person of the said William Jewell, and . . after having thrown and poured said gasoline upon the person of the said Jewell, ignite same with matches and fire, said gasoline having been thrown and poured on the clothing of the said Jewell, which he then and there wore, and did then and there burn and by said acts cause to be burned the person of the said William Jewell, and did thereby inflict upon the said William Jewell certain burns and wounds with the intent aforesaid.” The trial resulted in a conviction, with a recommendation, and the defendants excepted to the overruling of their motion for a new trial.
Upon the trial William Jewell testified in part as follows: “They got the gasoline on me by pouring it on. Mr. Theo poured it on me. He poured it on the clothes of my left leg and on the right leg; he took a quart cup and poured it on me; and then Mr. Grady struck a match. Mr. Theo said, ‘ Let’s catch this negro and pour some gas on him and see him run.’ Mr. Grady said, Uf you will pour the gas on the son of a bitch, I will strike the match.’
The first special ground of the motion for-a new trial complains of the following charge: “Assault and intent to murder, therefore, may be defined to be the deliberate intent unlawfully to kill a human being in the peace of the State by a person of sound memory and discretion with malice aforethought, either express or implied.” The word “therefore,” embodied in this excerpt, shows
The court having fully charged the jury on the law applicable to the statements of the defendants, including the instruction that the jury cortld give these statements such credibility and weight as they saw proper and could believe them in preference to the sworn testimony in the case, it was not error for the court to instruct the jury that “In determining whether or not such intent existed in this case, you should consider' all the direct evidence bearing upon that question as well as the circumstances proven upon the trial of the case, such as the nature of the weapon used or alleged to have been used, the manner in which the same was used, the nature of the wounds inflicted, if any, the brutality of the assault, if any was shown. All of these are to be considered in determining the question of the intention to kill.” See Jordan v. State, 130 Ga. 406 (5) (60 S. E. 1063); Tucker v. State, 114 Ga. 61 (5) (39 S. E. 926).
There is no merit in the contention of plaintiffs in error that the court erred in failing to charge the jury on their defense. Their defense was contained in their statements, and the court charged fully on the right of the jury to believe the defendants’ statements. Their defense was that the person alleged to have been assaulted was injured by accident or misadventure and there was no intention on the part of the defendants to injure him; and the court specifically charged the jury that “a person shall not be found guilty of any crime or misdemeanor committed by misfortune or accident, and where it satisfactorily appears there was no evil design or intention or culpable neglect.”
The evidence amply authorized the finding of the jury, no reversible error of law is shown, and the court properly overruled the motion for a new trial.
Judgment affirmed.