122 Ky. 444 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1906
OpinioN op the Court by
Reversing.
The appellant, James Garfield Smith, was jointly indicted with John and Ed. Taylor by the grand jury of Payette county, charged with the murder of William Moore. His trial resulted in his being found guilty by the jury as charged in the indictment, and his punishment fixed at death. Of this judgment he now complains.
The facts in this case, from the Commonwealth’s point of view, are in all substantial respects similar to those set forth in the opinion of this court on the appeal of appellant’s codefendant John Taylor, which appears in 90 S. W. 581, 28 Ky. Law Rep. 819. It is not necessary to again state them. Instruction No. 3, given" by the trial court on the subject of
The court did not err in refusing to give the instruction offered by appellant on the.subject of the weight to be accorded his evidence of an alibi, upon which he relied as a defense to the charge contained in the indictment. It has never been the practice in this State for the court to instruct a jury on the weight to be accorded to the evidence admitted; but, on the contrary, this question, is left exclusively to their discretion. The instruction in question involved a violation of the rule uniformly enforced by this court, which prohibits the giving of undue prominence to facts or evidence. It is the duty of the trial court to instruct the. jury on the whole law of the case, which includes, of course, when necessaiy or proper, definitions of the technical terms used, and while it is necessary, in order that this may be done intelligently, that the principles of law should be based upon the evidence adduced, the court should only state the facts in so far as necessary to illustrate, or furnish a basis upon which to rest the legal principles by which the jury are to be enlightened as to the rights and liability of the parties; and this must be done always without giving undue prominence to the particular facts involved.
It is not necessary, and therefore not proper, under our practice to refer to the evidence of an alibi to illustrate any legal principle. An alibi, in proportion as it is successfully established, tends to prove the accused not guilty, and when it is perfect it constitutes a good defense for the simple reason that, .by showing the accused in a different place, it
For the reasons given, the judgment is reversed for proceedings consistent with this opinion.