The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-04-11
CHARGE TO JURY.
A Choice of Four Different Verdicts Is
Permitted.

jury by saying
Gentlemen of the jury, it now be-
comes my duty to give to you such IN
Etructions upon the law as are neces-
sary to enable you to perform your ou-
ties as jurors and to define to you the
legal guides by which you are to be
governed in considering the evidence
and reaching your conclusions.
1T has been particularly gratifying
TO me to realize that you were select
ed by the people and by the defen-
dant as fairminded men after the ex-
animation of 337 ta1esmen, and be-
fore the peremptory challenges allow
ed by law had been exhausted
Let me impress upon you the i'm
portance of the issue you are to decide.
The life of a citizen within the protec-
ton of the law, it is charged, has been
taken by the defendant, and the de-
PENDANT is here to answer to the law
for that.
you must take the law absolutely
from the eourt-of the facts you are
the sole judges
"A defendant in a criminal action is
presumed to be innocent until the con-
frary be proven. and in case of d reas-
enable doubt that his guilt is not sat
isfactorily shown he is entitled to an
acquitta1.
''Let me begin by instructing you on
the general construction of the law.
The statute of homicide is divided into
general divisions. which in turn are
subdivided. as 1 will later explain The
two chief divisions are homicide that
is criminal and homicide that is not
criminal.
"Crininal homicides are murder in
the first degree, murder in the second
degree and manslaughter in the first
and second degrees
"Such homicide, unless excusab BILE or
1ustifiable, is murder in the first de-
gree, when committed from delibera-
ton and prem diation with a design
TO effect the death of the person killed.
If 1T is committed without premedf-
i
to kill, it is murder in the second de-
gree. If the homicide is committed in
the heat of passion, without design to
kill, but with a dangerous weapon
1t would be manslaughter in the first
degree. All lesser criminal homicides
are classed as manslaughter in the sec
ond degree.
When Insanity Excuses.
Homicide which is not criminal is
classed as justifable or excusab BILE.
Homicide is justifiable when commit
ted in the lawful defense of the slayer
or his wife or his child, brother, sister,
master or servant, or other person,
when there is reasonable ground to
apprehend that crime is about to be
committed against such person, and
there is imminent danger of the design
being carried out
"Homicide is oxcusabIe when by acct
dent or misfortune it Is committed in
lawfully correcting a child, or doing
some other lawful act in a lawful way.
"Homicide is also excusabIe in in
sanity. The law is contained in sec
tions 20 and q of the penal code. Sec
ton 20 says an act done by an i'm
beetle, idiot, lunatic or insane person
is not a crime This language is very
broad and would at first glance appear
to apply to all persons of unsound mind
without regard to degree of insanity.
"But section 81 limits section 20 as
follows:
"a person is not excusable from
criminal liability as an idiot, imbecile,
proof that Mt the time of committing
the alleged crime he was 1aboring under
such a defect of reason as either not
TO know the nature or quality of the
act, or to know that the act was
wrong
ssBefore murder in the first degree
can be DONE a distinguished jurist has
said 1t must appear that there was
aorne act of elaboration and premedfta-
ton. This of necessity is for the COM
prehension of the jury What may be
elaboration and reconciliation in one
Men differ physically and mentally.
Each case must depend upon its own
facts, one case may be proved by a
long train of circumstances, another by
a few sharp facts
sAnd still another case the jury may
f1nd in the act. in the manner in which
It was done. the weapon used, the time
and the place. the disposition of the
victim, everything necessary to satisfy
them of the presence of elaboration
and generalization.
IF you are satisfied that there was
design to effect death, but without de-
liberation and reconciliation, you may
find murder in the second degree. The
defendant may be convicted under the
indictment Of nun der in the first or sec
ond degree, or granddaughter in the first
degree.
when 1t appears that the defendant
committed a crime and there is a rea-
eonable doubt of which degree he is
guilty. he can be convicted of the low
"As have tried to impress upon you
since this trial began. the character of
the victim furnishes neither excuse nor
justification. The general character of
the victim is not the issue, and no mat
ter how bad he might have been he was
entitled to the protection of the law.
"The personal aVcnger OF private or
public wrongs is not recognized under
our law. Every person is under the
protection of law. Good or bad, exalted
or humble, all are alike covered by its
shield.
1.-THE law presumes that sanity is the
normal condition Of man and wherein
insanity is the plea. as the condition of
mind of the defendant at the time of
the act, that becomes the crucial ques-
ton for the jury to decide.
IF he cocks, aims ami discharges a
revolver, as it is alleged here, did he
know when he cooked and fired the
weapon that the act was wrong and
that ii would probably destroy life
and did he know that the act was for
hidden by law? That is the question
which the law must have answered.
'.Under the rule of evidence the story,
claimed by the defendants wife to have
been told by her to the defendant is ad-
naftted not as Affecting the character of
the deceased. but that you might con-
slider what effect such story had on the
defendants mind In considering her
story, her credibility as a witness Is
highly material, and everything that
she has said or done must be taken in
10 consideration Her admissions re-
harding the relations existing between