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1 Miss. Dec. 532

Turnage v. State

Mississippi Supreme Court

Decided January 21, 1884

Mississippi Supreme Court · decided 1884-01-21

Appellant, Turnage, was indicted in the Circuit Court of Lafayette county for murder. ' lie was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to the penitentiary for two years and appeals. The court gave' the following instruction for the State': “ 5. If the jury believe from the evidence that any witness in the case has sworn falsely, willfully, and corruptly to any material fact in the case, the jury are authorized to disregard the testimony of such witness altogether.

Affirmed,, Former judgment set aside, · Decided 1884-01-21

Chalmers, J.,

¶1delivered the opinion of the court.

¶2We cannot think it likely that the jury could have been misled by the inapt phraseology of the fifth instruction for the State, in stating that it was a legal presumption rather than one of fact that a witness who knowingly testified falsely as to one material fact was thereby rendered unworthy of credit as to all his state*537ments; since, by the sixth instruction for the defense,.they were distinctly informed that though they might believe that any witness had sworn falsely in some part of his testimony, they were not thereby compelled to disbelieve his entire testimony, but, might reject a part and believe the residue as they thought proper and right, looking to all the evidence in the case.

¶3The fourth instruction asked for the defendant was properly refused, since no witness on either side testified to any state of fact which rendered it necessary to give it; and various instructions given for the defense fully submitted to the jury the alleged state of case presented on behalf of the defense.

¶4Affirmed.

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