Court Opinion

ID: 9584575
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:50:12.108599+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:08:47.077497
License: Public Domain

Eggleston, C. J.,
dissenting.
I dissent. The uncontradicted evidence is that the accused assaulted his wife, knocked her to the floor with his fists, and while she was lying there, beat her with an ax so severely that she died shortly thereafter. The assault took place in the presence of the children of the couple and was committed with such savagery that bones were broken throughout the victim’s body.
There were no extenuating circumstances, and the verdict of the jury convicting the accused of murder in the first degree is the only just verdict which could have been reached. It is entirely unrealistic to say that under these circumstances the jury may have been influenced by evidence that the accused had previously assaulted his wife.
Moreover, I fully agree with the conclusion of Justice Carrico, ex*844pressed in his dissent, that there was no technical error in the admission of the evidence of the accused’s previous assault on his wife.
I would affirm the judgment.
Justices Snead and Carrico join in this dissent.