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18 Ala. App. 82

Washington v. State

Alabama Court of Appeals

Decided February 15, 1921

Alabama Court of Appeals · decided 1921-02-15

S. Williams, Judge. Annie Washington was convicted of manslaughter, and she appeals. The party killed was the husband of the defendant, and the explanation of the difficulty was that the husband *had a gun, and she grabbed the stock which he was holding under his arm, and as she pulled it back the gun fired, killing him. Counsel discuss the evidence and the refused charges, but without citation of authority.

Relies on Tidwell v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Affirmed · Decided 1921-02-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently March 1966

5 state decisions

2019211930194019501960decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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SAMFORD, J.

¶1[1] The defendant on the trial requested this charge in writing:

“If you believe from the evidence in this ease that the man Washington was killed as the result of an accident, then the defendant would not be guilty as charged.”

¶2The taking of human life by misfortune or misadventure, while in the performance of a lawful act, exercising due care, and without harmful intent, is excusable; but all of such facts must concur, and the absence of any one of them will involve guilt. Tidwell v. State, 70 Ala. 33.

¶3[2, 3] According to defendant’s own testimony, she was engaged in the unlawful act of snatching a gun from the deceased, and even under her claim, death resulted from her unlawful act. The charge under the facts in this case was properly refused. It was not error for the court to sustain the state’s objection to the testimony of defendant’s witness Smith, that deceased owed Smith considerable money, etc. This testimony could have no bearing on the issues involved.

¶4We find no error in the record, and the judgment is affirmed.

¶5Affirmed.

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