Cases argued and decided in the Supreme Court of Texas, during the latter part of the Tyler term, 1874, and the first part of the Galveston term, 1875. Volume 42. Page: 317
viii, 704 p. ; 22 cm.View a full description of this book.
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1875.] BUSTERE v. THE STATE. 317
Opinion of the Court.
"rendered. If, as in Slaughter v. The State, the jury had found
" the defendant guilty in general terms, and then had assessed
" the punishment for a lower degree of homicide, their verdict
' would have been irregular and ambiguous, and in disregard
" of Article 3095, Pasclal's Digest, but such was not the fact,
" and we think the verdict sufficient under the statute and de"cisions."It will be observed, although the court says that the verdict
is "sufficient under the statute and decisions,' only two artitides
of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and one decision are
specifically referred to or mentioned; while Article 609 of the
Criminal Code, having much more direct reference to the question
then before the court than the Articles of the Code of Procedure
cited in the case of Slaughter v. The State, is not adverted
to, and the case of Isbell v. The State (31 Texas, 139), which
seems to be in direct conflict with this decision, is not noticed.An examination of the case of Slaughter -v. The State will
show, we think, that it does not support the decision in Holland
v. The State, and that the court in the latter case misapprehended
its true spirit and import.
Article 626, Code of Criminal Procedure reads: "The ver"'diet
in every criminal action must be general; when there
" are special pleas upon which the jury are to find, they must
" say in their verdict that the matters alleged in such pleas are
either true or untrue: When the plea is not guilty, they must
" find that the defendant is either guilty,' or not ' guilty,' and,
"in addition thereto, they shall assess the punishment in all
cases when the same is not absolutely fixed by law to some
"particular penalty." Now this article does nothing more
than to require the jury to draw the conclusion as to the guilt
or innocence of the accused, and if guilty to assess, within the
limits fixed by law, an adequate penalty, instead of merely finding
the facts by special verdict, for the court to draw therefrom
the legal conclusion. It certainly does not intimate that the
jury have fullfilled the measure of their duty, if their verdict
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Texas. Supreme Court. Cases argued and decided in the Supreme Court of Texas, during the latter part of the Tyler term, 1874, and the first part of the Galveston term, 1875. Volume 42., book, 1881; St. Louis, Mo.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth28531/m1/325/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .