Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

102 Miss. 16

Benson v. State

Mississippi Supreme Court

Decided March 15, 1912

Mississippi Supreme Court · decided 1912-03-15

Hon. Paul B. Johnson, Judge. Henry Benson was convicted of murder and appeals. The facts are fully stated in the opinion of the court.

Cited by 2 later decisions — most recently June 1931

2 state decisions

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1912-03-15

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Smith, J.

¶1(concurring).

¶2My brethren have simply misunderstood this instruction. It is elementary law that the reasonable doubt, to the benefit of which a defendant is entitled, must arise from the evidence or from the lack of evidence, and this instruction in plain language so informs the jury. The nharge is “that if they believe from all the evidence before them, beyond every reasonable doubt.” What sort «of a doubt! Any doubt arising from any source? No; a doubt “arising from the evidence or from the lack of -evidence.” I do not see how the instruction can be tortured into a charge to find the defendant guilty from a lack of evidence.

/102/miss/16 · .json · Public domain