Smith v. State , 196 Ga. 595 ( 1943 )

Grice, Justice.

Nothing additional will be said here on the rulings made in the first ten headnotes.

The defendant made no statement. Certain non-expert witnesses were introduced to testify as to his sanity or insanity, some expressing the view that in their opinion he was insane, and others that he was sane.

The recital appearing above, of the evidence concerning the homicide, justifies the statement in the brief of counsel for the plaintiff in error, to wit: “There was practically no dispute as to the circumstances of the killing, 'nor the manner; there being no evidence as to the actual killing other than that introduced by the State, and that showed a brutal, uncalled-for, unprovoked killing. The contention made for the defendant was that the defendant did not have sufficient mind to know the difference between right and wrong.” There was nothing in the evidence to suggest the defense of delusional insanity. An examination of the charge shows that the judge fully and correctly charged the principles of law applicable to the defense of insanity in criminal cases, in giving the general rule of criminal responsibility as measured by the ability to distinguish between right and wrong in connection with the particular act. This was in reality the only defense urged by the accused. The court, having instructed the jury that if he had reason sufficient to distinguish between right and wrong in relation to the particular act about to be committed, the law would hold him responsible, therefor, then in immediate sequence gave the accused the benefit of a principle of law to which he was not entitled, to wit, the law of delusional insanity. And we are asked to reverse the judgment on that account.

In Caison v. State, 171 Ga. 1 (154 S. E. 337), it was said that the trial judge, after instructing the jury that if the defendant was not mentally capable of distinguishing between, right., and wrong he should be acquitted, or if the jury had a reasonable doubt as to this he should be given the benefit of that doubt and acquitted, immediately added: “If on the contrary . . you should believe the defendant committed the act charged against him in this bill of indictment, and in the manner therein alleged, and that, at the time of its commission he was not mentally incapable .of distinguishing between right and wrong with reference to such act, but at the time of the commission of said act he was mentally capable of distinguishing between right and wrong with reference- to such act, and was not irresistibly impelled to its commission by reason of any mental disease, he would not be excusable for the same on the ground of mental disease or insanity.” The defendant excepted to that portion of the instruction contained in the words, “and was not irresistibly impelled to its commission by reason of any mental disease,” etc. In dealing with that exception this court said: “Under the defense of insanity set up by the defendant, the above instruction, which is pertinent to eases of delusional insanity, was not applicable, and put upon the defendant, in sustaining his defense of insanity, a greater burden than that imposed by law; and for this reason the court erred in giving such instruction. Under the defense of delusional insanity such instruction would be applicable; but it should not be given as part of an instruction upon'insanity generally. Such commingling of an instruction upon delusional insanity with a correct charge upon insanity generally tended to confuse and mislead the jury, and left them to apply the rule applicable to delusional insanity generally.”

That opinion was by four Justices only. It seems to us that this court reached the wrong conclusion in that case, and that all the trial court there did was to give the prisoner the benefit of an additional defense to which he was not entitled under the record. We do not challenge the soundness of the proposition there laid down, that when the judge so charges the law of general insanity with that of delusional insanity as to commingle the two in a manner that is confusing to the jury, and in a way that puts an additional burden on the accused, harmful error is committed; but in our opinion the charge in the Caison case was not confusing, nor did it place an extra burden on the accused. In that case, however, the trial judge did not, as in the instant case, after charging on the law..-of general insanity, leave that subject, and then separately charge on delusional insanity, treating the latter defense as an exception to the general rule. The court was then of the opinion that two instructions on these two branches of the law of insanity were so commingled as to confuse and mislead the jury, and that the instruction on delusional insanity put upon the defendant in order to sustain his defense of insanity a greater burden than that imposed by law. There was nothing confusing in the manner of charging delusional insanity in the record now before us. To charge the law generally applicable to the defense of insanity in criminal cases, mentioning the usual test, which is the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and after having instructed the jury that if a person has reason sufficient to make such distinction in relation to the particular act about to be committed he is criminally responsible, and then to expressly state to the jury that there is an exception to this general rule,' and then to charge them on the law of delusional insanity, is not the putting of any extra burden on the defendant to sustain his defense of' general insanity, but simply offers to him still another defense of a kindred nature.

In Davis v. State, 190 Ga. 100 (8 S. E. 2d, 394), the trial judge, after giving the correct principle of law applicable generally to the defense of insanity in criminal cases, charged the jury as follows: “An exception to this rule is where a man has reason sufficient to distinguish between right and wrong as to a particular act about to be committed, yet, in consequence of some delusion, his will is overmastered and there is no criminal intention; provided that the act itself is connected with the peculiar delusion under which the prisoner is laboring. This, gentlemen, is a question of fact to be determined by you. If you should believe that the defendant had reason sufficient to distinguish between right and wrong relative to the particular act charged against him in the bill of indictment, and that he actually committed the act, but that at the time of its commission, in consequence of some delusion with which the act itself was connected, his will was overmastered, and there was no criminal intention on the part of the defendant with reference to such act, then you should acquit the defendant.” And after in effect repeating that sentence, he added: “In other words, gentlemen, if you believe that the defendant had sufficient reason to distinguish between right and wrong with reference to the act charged against him, he may nevertheless not be legally responsible therefor, if by reason of a delusion or mental disease he had so far lost the power to choose between right and wrong and avoid the doing of the act in question as that free agency was at the time destroyed; provided that the alleged crime was so connected with such mental disease in relation to cause and effect as to have been the product of it solely. If, on the other hand, you believe beyond a reasonable doubt that, if the defendant committed the act therein charged, and that at the time of its commission he was not suffering from such mental infirmity as to render him incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong with reference to such act, and his will was not overmastered in consequence of some delusion connected with said act, so as to render him powerless to choose between right and wrong with reference to said act and to avoid the doing of the act in question, then he would be legally accountable for the same, under the rules and instructions given you.” This court ruled that the charge on delusional insanity did not constitute reversible error, since it merely gave to the defendant the benefit of an additional defense, and could not have misled the jury as to the defense upon which he expressly relied. The Davis decision had the approval of the 'entire bench; whereas the Caison decision did not. We follow the Davis case, and rule that, although in the present case there was no evidence of delusional insanity, the charge on that subject, looking to the entire record, was not an error of which the accused can justly complain.

The evidence authorized the verdict, which was approved by the court, and there was no error in refusing ~a new trial.

Judgment affirmed.

All the Justices concur, except Bell, 0-. J., not participating.