Case Name: Russell v. The State
Court: Supreme Court of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1892-02-03
Citations: 88 Ga. 297
Docket Number: 
Parties: Russell v. The State.
Judges: Bleckley, C. J., dubitante.
Reporter: Georgia Reports
Volume: 88
Pages: 297–298

Head Matter:
Russell v. The State.
Criminal law. Murder. Manslaughter.
The evidence showing that the prisoner and deceased, a much larger man, were in a quarrel in the field where they were at work; that after giving the deceased the “damned lie,” the prisoner went to a branch near by, took a drink of water, procured a flint stone about the size of one’s fist, put it in his pocket, and returned to the scene of the quarrel; that the deceased resumed the quarrel, and advanced upon him with a knife, threatening to kill him; that the prisoner, in resistance to this assault, struck the deceased with a stick which he had in his hand to work with; that the deceased, continuing to advance, cut the prisoner in the j aw with his knife, also cut his hat in several places, and after breaking the knife, started off looking down in a stooping position as if intending to procure a stone or something else to fight with; that another person present threw a stone at deceased and hit him in the back, and that immediately thereafter the prisoner also threw the stone which he had-concealed in his pocket, and hitting him on the back of the head, inflicted the mortal wound: Held, that the offence was not murder, but voluntary manslaughter.
Bleckley, C. J., dubitante.
February 3, 1892.

Opinion:
Judgment reversed.
Before Judge Boynton. Newton superior court. March term, 1891.
J. M. Pace and E. E. Edwards, by brief, for plaintiff in error.
W. A. Little, attorney-general, by J. EL Lumpkin, and E. Womack, solicitor-general, contra.