People v. O'Neil
This text of 20 P. 705 (People v. O'Neil) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
Appellant was tried upon an information which alleged that he feloniously, unlawfully, and with malice aforethought, killed and murdered one Philip Stump. The jury returned a verdict in these words: “We, the jury, decide the defendant, John H. O’Neil, guilty as charged, the penalty to be imprisonment for life.” The code provides that “ whenever a crime is distinguished into degrees, the jury, if they convict the defendant, must find the degree of the crime of which he is guilty.” It has been uniformly held that a failure [389]*389to specify the degree of murder under that section vitiates the verdict. (People v. Campbell, 40 Cal. 129.)
The attorney-general confesses error.
Judgment and order reversed, and cause remanded, for a new trial.
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack
20 P. 705, 78 Cal. 388, 1889 Cal. LEXIS 603, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-oneil-cal-1889.