21 S.E. 693 | N.C. | 1895
It is not essential that the prosecution, in order to show prima facie
premeditation and deliberation on the part of a prisoner charged with murder in the first degree, should offer testimony tending to prove a preconceived purpose to kill, formed at a time anterior to the meeting when it was carried into execution. "In order to conviction of murder in the first degree (said this Court in S. v. Norwood,
We think that there was no error in leaving the jury to find upon the testimony whether or not the killing was done in pursuance of a preconceived purpose deliberately formed. In arriving at a (1037) conclusion they would naturally look to the testimony as to the conduct of the prisoner at and about the time of the homicide, and the attendant circumstances, to throw light upon the question, rather than to a computation of the time intervening between the formation and execution of the purpose.
The guilt or innocence of the prisoner depended upon whether his intent to kill had been definitely formed, not upon the length of time that he had cherished the purpose.
For the reasons given the judgment is
Affirmed.
Cited: S. v. Gadberry,