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141 Ala. 32

Burton v. State

Supreme Court of Alabama

Decided November 15, 1904

Supreme Court of Alabama · decided 1904-11-15

Tried before the Hon. Trios. W. Coleman, Jr. The indictment under which the defendant was convicted in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged, was in the following words: .“The grand jury of said county charges that before the finding of this indictment that Andrew Burton unlawfully, and with malice aforethought, killed Will Richardson, alias William Richardson, by shooting him with a pistol, against the peace and dignity of the state of Alabama.” The defendant demurred…

Cited by 2 later decisions — most recently June 1926

2 state decisions

Relies on Lewis v. State · O'Connor Mining & Manufacturing Co. v. Dickson · Hightower v. Ogletree

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1904-11-15

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SHARPE, J.

¶1The indictment was in the Code form. It was not subject to the objections taken by demurrer and was sufficient.

¶2Wheaton having testified that he did not write or sign the letter purporting to have been addressed by him to P. J. Burton and there having been a total lack of evidence’ to show this writing was a response to any letter sent to’ Wheaton or to> otherwise prove its genuineness, the purported letter was not admissible for the purpose of impeaching Wheaton or for any purpose. — O'Connor Mining Co. v. Dickson, 112 Ala. 304; Hightower v. Ogletree, 114 Ala. 94.

¶3A reasonable doubt of material facts, without regard to whether they were facts essential to the establishment of defendant’s guilt, would not have required an- acquit*35tal and tlie contrary of this was implied in tbe first refused charge.

¶4Taken as a whole the evidence leads to the legal conclusion that defendant was the aggressor in the difficulty, and this being true the defendant was not entitled to invoke the doctrine of self-defense. Lewis v. State, 51 Ala. 1; Wills v. State, 73 Ala. 362.

¶5For this reason besides others that could well be based on faults inherent in the second and third refused charges the court was justified in refusing each of those charges.

¶6We find no error in the record and, therefore, the judgment will be affirmed.

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