Case Name: Bradley v. The State
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1872
Citations: 1 Mor. St. Cas. 416
Docket Number: 
Parties: Bradley v. The State,
Judges: 
Reporter: Mississippi State Cases; being criminal cases decided in the High court of errors and appeals
Volume: 1
Pages: 416–417

Head Matter:
Bradley v. The State,
10 Smedes & Marshall, 618.
Assault with Intent to Cohmit Manslaughtee.
An indictment that charges an “ assault and battery with a deadly weapon upon a certain slave, ‘with intent to commit manslaughter,’” can only be construed to charge an aggravated assault.
Evidence of a single witness, that the defendant was seen with a knife in his hand, in pursuit of a slave, when he was stopped by the witness, and that he made threats against the life of the slave, is insufficient to warrant a conviction for an assault with intent to kill.
Error to Monroe eircuit court. Dawson, J.
The plaintiff in error was indicted in the court below, at the April term, 1847, for having “ with a dirk knife, being a deadly weapon, cut, beat, bruised, maimed, and ill-treated, with intent, in and upon one Isliam, a slave of William Cozant, wilfully and maliciously, and feloniously, to commit manslaughter.”
The case was tried, and the prisoner found guilty; and the court sentenced him to jail for a period of two years.
One McWilliam, the Only witness for the prosecution, testified that he saw the prisoner run after the negro, about ten steps behind him, with an open knife in his hand; witness called upon the slave to jump the fence; upon which the prisoner stopped the pursuit, stating that the slave might then escape, but he would catch him and have his blood; the prisoner waited until the witness came up to him. This was all the testimony.
The prisoner sued out a writ of error and brings his case to this court for reversal.

Opinion:
Thachee, J.
This is an indictment preferred by the grand jury of Monroe county against John Bradley. The indictment charges the accused with an assault and battery with a deadly weapon, upon a certain slave, " with intent to commit manslaughter."
This indictment can be construed only to be an indictment for an aggravated assault. It is not an indictment for an assault with an intent to kill, by which is understood and has been held, an intent to murder.
The evidence, that of a single witness only, shows, that the defendant below was seen with a knife in his hand in pursuit of the slave, when he was stopped by the witness, and that he then made threats against the life of the slave.
The evidence is entirely insufficient to warrant the conviction, and the judgment of the circuit court was erroneous.
The judgment must be reversed, and a new trial awarded in Monroe Circuit Court.