ARCHIBALD, Justice.
The appellant was indicted for the murder of his estranged wife, Teresa Lafferty. The jury determined by its verdict that he was, in fact, guilty of murder, and the case is now before us on appeal. We deny the appeal.
Our review of the issues raised on appeal must be considered in three generalized categories, namely, errors arising from the rulings of the Justice below on motions to suppress certain evidence; errors committed during the actual trial ; and, finally, alleged errors contained in the instructions to the jury.
The record before us is lengthy and counsel for the appellant was meticulously careful to preserve for appellate review each point which he felt might constitute reversible error. While we must consider all of the points thus saved for review, we have consolidated many of them because the same general legal conclusion becomes dispositive of these points.
Facts
Teresa Lafferty and her husband had become estranged and at the time of this episode Mr. Lafferty was living in Lewis-ton, employed in a mechanical capacity, and his wife in Wilton, working as a cashier in a supermarket. For a period of several weeks prior to April 29, 1971, Mrs. Lafferty and her husband had made periodic efforts at reconciliation. Mrs. Laf-ferty had a daughter (Terry) by a prior marriage, for whom the appellant claimed paternal affection.
In the general vicinity of 9:00 p. m. on April 29, 1971, Mrs. Lafferty, accompanied by her sister, drove into a parking lot in the town of Jay which was utilized by the “Caledonia Lounge” for customer parking. A bartender employed at this lounge was likewise in this parking lot and observed what appeared to him to be a violent altercation between a man and a woman, subsequently proved to be the appellant and his wife. He ran to call for help and on returning he observed the exit of the appellant, describing it as follows: “He jumped in his car and took off very fast.” He next observed Mrs. Lafferty lying on the ground “all covered with blood.” He immediately ran back to the lounge to get some napkins and on his prompt return and while he was holding her leg to stay the flow of blood, she said: “My God, I knew [652]*652he’d do something like this. Please take care of my child.”
Another witness, who described Mrs. Lafferty’s condition at this time, used this language: “The girl was moaning and screaming that her wound pained her and she appeared to be in great pain.”
An ambulance arrived shortly and the victim was taken to a hospital in Farming-ton. Upon the subsequent arrival of the police, the area was searched and a press photographer found a hunting knife in a grassy area within a few feet from where Mrs. Lafferty had been lying. This was recovered and delivered to the investigating officers and ultimately was introduced at trial. It is allegedly the weapon that caused her death.
Mrs. Lafferty was in critical condition but rational when she arrived at the hospital. Emergency medical treatment was immediately rendered, followed by an operation (a left oracostomy) at approximately 11:00 p. m. The surgeon detected severed intercostal arteries which he ligated, and after a massage of her heart Mrs. Lafferty responded. However, in about one-half hour hemorrhaging recurred and medical efforts to revive her failed. She was pronounced dead at approximately 1:45 a. m. An autopsy revealed an actual count of twenty-three non-surgical wounds which were consistent with having been inflicted by the hunting knife. A pathologist attributed the cause of death to “acute blood loss” resulting from “wounds by a sharp instrument.”
Shortly after Mrs. Lafferty was removed to the hospital police investigation began and, based upon information obtained both at the scene and in the hospital, a radio message was transmitted requesting the apprehension of the appellant. This message was received by the Lewis-ton Police Department as well as the An-droscoggin County Sheriff’s Department, and an immediate effort was made by both departments to locate Mr. Lafferty, initially at 67 Shawmut Street, where he had lived until April 27, 1971.
As the result of a telephone call received by the police at approximately 12:20 a. m. (April 30, 1971), a Deputy Sheriff and two members of the police department convened at another Lewiston address, 17 Elliot Street. There, after some conversation with a Mr. and Mrs. Beaulieu who were the actual occupants of an apartment at this address, these officers observed Mr. Lafferty leave the apartment and enter an automobile which they had observed parked in a driveway and which matched the description previously given them by police radio communication. As the officers approached, Mr. Lafferty got out of the car, walked towards them and said, “I give up. I’m not armed.” He was immediately frisked, handcuffed, and placed in the police cruiser. Previous to leaving for police headquarters, one of the officers took the key from the vehicle and, without making any search or observation of its contents, locked it.
At that point in time it is fair to say that none of the officers was personally aware of the precise charge for which this arrest was being made. The officers said nothing to Mr. Lafferty, nor did they give him any warning or advice. They described Mr. Lafferty as being sober.
En route to the police station appellant made a statement to the police. One officer testified as follows:
“One of the statements, his first statement, was that he inquired as to the condition of his wife. We advised him that we did not have this information available. We did not know. Then he made the statement, T know I got her twice with a knife, once on the stomach good, and once when she fell down.’ ”
Mr. Lafferty was held briefly at the Lewiston Police Department and was then transported to the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s department where he was later interviewed by a Maine State Police De[653]*653tective. The so-called Miranda warnings were given, following which the appellant personally wrote out a four-page statement inculpating himself in the death of his wife. This statement was ultimately admitted in evidence. Additionally to the written statement, the police detective was allowed to testify as to verbal statements made by Mr. Lafferty in explanation of certain ambiguities apparent from reading the written statement. The written statement described the stabbing in this language :
“[M]y wife start toward my car as she did I know she would run I drew my kife she saw it and panic when did I stabbed her she didn’t know it till got to my car said get in was on passeger side she started to and ran again about 3 ft I stabbed her in back and right said and then I went crasy as by me said stop and she was laiding she try to call Elaine and I was get back in car she moved and look at me when back and stabbed her 3 or 4 time more in Back this time she roll over I turn back I think I hit her neck or ear with my kife and look at her just look at me and moaned and I got in car and drove out fast . . . . ”
After the appellant had finished writing the statement, the Detective interrogated the appellant for the purpose of explaining away the ambiguities arising from poor English, lack of punctuation and misspelling. The officer was allowed to testify as to the explanation given him by Mr. Lafferty of these ambiguities. The result of the explanation was a clear statement in which the appellant admitted the fatal stabbing of his wife by the use of a hunting knife.
Shortly after the Lewiston police had delivered Mr. Lafferty to their headquarters, they returned to the locked vehicle at 17 Elliot Street. With the aid of a flashlight they observed what appeared to be blood stains on the exterior of the door on the driver’s side in the vicinity of the door handle. They also observed clothes hanging over the back of the front seat on which there appeared to be blood stains. They then unlocked the car (the key having been in their possession since the arrest) and drove it to the garage maintained by the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department. Subsequently, a search warrant was obtained, the car opened, its contents photographed, the clothing removed, and the suspect blood spots scraped from the car door and preserved.
Alleged Errors in Ruling on Motion to Suppress
Prior to the trial a motion to suppress was filed. This motion was directed at the suppression of evidence taken from the automobile and the several statements made by the appellant to the police officers.
The Justice below refused to suppress any of the physical evidence. He held that the officers had probable cause for the arrest, that the seizure of the automobile was not only incident to a lawful arrest but necessary to preserve evidence and “incidentally to protect defendant’s property.” In any event, he held that the search warrant was validly issued and executed.
With reference to the oral statements made in the police car immediately following the arrest, the Justice below said, “I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that they were voluntary and admissible even though no prior warnings were given.”
He also ruled that the defendant’s written statement and his oral explanation thereof were admissible because he was satisfied “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the Miranda rule had been complied with and that the statements were entirely voluntary.
We consider first those issues generated by the denial of the motion to suppress.
Initially, we concern ourselves with the question of whether the arrest itself was valid. The argument is advanced that [654]*654the subsequent seizure of the contents of the automobile, the statement made en route to the police station, and the signed confession were all the products of an unlawful arrest and, therefore, this entire block of evidence should have been suppressed.
The resolution of this issue rests, not necessarily upon the knowledge of those police officers who physically arrested the appellant, but rather upon the collective police knowledge extant at that time. We must consider whether within the gamut of general police knowledge focused at shortly after midnight on April 30, 1971, there was probable cause to believe that the appellant was guilty of felonious conduct. Otherwise stated, if the totality of police knowledge then in existence had been presented to a magistrate in a request for a warrant of arrest, would it have been obtained?
When the appellant was arrested the record indicates composite police knowledge which, omitting numerous but less important details, includes the following:
(1) Mrs. Lafferty was the victim of a potentially fatal stabbing, a hunting knife being the weapon involved.
(2) She had made a statement (admissible either as a dying declaration or under the res gestae rule; see infra) which indicated that her husband was the assailant.
(3) The vehicle beside which the appellant was arrested matched the vehicle described as the appellant’s.
(4) From the testimony of Wendell Beaulieu, the actual occupant of the apartment at 17 Elliot Street, the inference is clear that the police knew of the appellant’s presence in this apartment.
(5) Mr. Lafferty’s statement prior to his arrest, “I give up. I’m not armed,” was, in terms of this police knowledge, tantamount to an admission of complicity on his part.
This Court has recently given complete consideration to the rules defining the circumstances under which probable cause may be found in making a warrantless arrest.
“Probable cause must be judged on the basis of the composite information in possession of the police and if that knowledge in its totality shows probable cause, a policeman who makes the arrest upon an order to do so under such circumstances, acts upon probable cause. .” (Emphasis supplied.)
State v. Smith, 277 A.2d 481, 489 (Me.1971); see also State v. Mimmovich, 284 A.2d 282 (Me.1971).
We have no hesitancy in ruling that the arrest of the appellant was valid.
The appellant, however, urges that the Justice below was in error in failing to suppress the articles of clothing and the blood scrapings taken from the vehicle in the execution of the search warrant.
We note that the automobile was not actually searched nor were its contents seized until some hours had elapsed after it was taken into police custody. In the interim a police officer, with the aid of a flashlight, had observed relevant evidence in plain view. This type of observation is not an intrusion into a constitutionally protected area. State v. Stone, 294 A.2d 683, 688 (Me.1972).
Without necessarily having to deal with the problem of whether the police acted properly in, first, locking the car and, secondly, removing it from the driveway to the Sheriff’s garage,1 it was at the garage that it was ultimately photographed and searched and the bloody clothing and blood scrapings were there seized. At this point in time the police were in possession of and were executing a validly issued search warrant. We see no useful purpose in repeating the contents of the affidavit filed [655]*655in support of the request for the search warrant. Suffice it to say, that on its face it recited adequate and obviously reliable facts sufficient to underlie the issuance of a search warrant.2 State v. Cadigan, 249 A.2d 750 (Me. 1969).
The appellant was in no way prejudiced by the security taken of his automobile by the police pending the issuance of the search warrant. So far as the generation of the evidence is concerned, the car could have as well been searched at 17 Elliot Street as in the Sheriff’s garage.
The appellant made four inculpatory statements which were not suppressed, the first prior to his arrest, the next en route to the police station, the written statement, and the verbal explanation thereof.3
It will be recalled that after his arrest and while in the police car, Mr. Lafferty first inquired about his wife’s condition and then said, without being questioned, “I know I got her twice with knife, once on the stomach good, and once when she fell down.” The Justice below found beyond a reasonable doubt that this statement was voluntary.
The decisions seem uniform that spontaneous or voluntary statements which are not the product of custodial interrogation are admissible without prior Miranda warnings, even though made while under arrest. Chief Justice Warren, speaking for the majority of the Court in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), limited the impact of the decision by stating:
“Volunteered statements of any kind are not barred by the Fifth Amendment and their admissibility is not affected by our holding today.”
384 U.S. at 478, 86 S.Ct. at 1630.
In situations factually similar to those before us, voluntary statements made to police officers either without prior Miranda warnings, or with ineffective or incomplete warnings, have been held admissible in many jurisdictions. We have found no precedent holding otherwise.
In a pre-Miranda trial, a voluntary but inculpatory statement to a coroner was admitted. State v. Hymore, 9 Ohio St.2d 122, 224 N.E.2d 126 (Ohio 1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 1024, 88 S.Ct. 1409, 20 L. Ed.2d 281; see also State v. Small, 219 A. 2d 263, 267-268 (Me.1966).
Subsequent to the date when the Miranda rule was made applicable to criminal prosecutions (June 13, 1966) in allowing the testimony of a police officer reciting a voluntary statement made to him by a juvenile under arrest for a felony, the Illinois Court said:
“All agree that Miranda does not require police to interrupt a suspect in the process of making a spontaneous statement in order to warn him of his constitutional rights, and that a statement made in the absence of any questioning is not inadmissible by virtue of the failure to give such warning.”
In Re Orr, 38 Ill.2d 417, 231 N.E.2d 424, 427 (Ill.1967), cert. denied, 391 U.S. 924, 88 S.Ct. 1821, 20 L.Ed.2d 663.
In a case almost “on all fours” with the one before us, the Oklahoma Court reached the same conclusion. Andrews v. State, 455 P.2d 741 (Okl.Cr.1969).
While a suspect was under arrest and before the Miranda warning had been completed, the defendant interjected a damaging admission. Since it was not the result of police interrogation, and was volun[656]*656teered, it was held admissible. Richardson v. State, 6 Md.App. 448, 251 A.2d 924 (1969); see also Campbell v. State, 4 Md. App. 448, 243 A.2d 642 (Md.1968).
Louisiana has held that a spontaneous and voluntary statement made without solicitation, even though while under arrest, is not made inadmissible because of the lack of a prior Miranda warning. State v. Richey, 258 La. 1094, 249 So.2d 143 (1971).
Two Federal Circuits, on facts remarkably similar to those before us, have reached the same conclusion. United States v. Littlejohn, 441 F.2d 26 (10th Cir. 1971); Klamert v. Cupp, 437 F.2d 1153 (9th Cir. 1970).
In holding that the statement made to the Lewiston police by the appellant after his arrest and while en route to the police station was properly admitted by the Justice below, we quote the language of the Arkansas Court:
“We do not take Miranda to mean that a man cannot voluntarily open his mouth.”
Hammond v. State, 244 Ark. 1113, 428 S.W.2d 639, 645 (1968).
Our holding on this point has obvious bearing on the appellant’s statement to the police prior to his arrest, namely, “I give up. I’m not armed.” The Justice below correctly ruled it admissible. See Annot., 31 A.L.R.3d 676, § 29, for illustrative cases.
Appellant bottoms his attack on the admissibility of both the signed confession and his subsequent explanatory oral statement on three decisions of the United States Supreme Court, Garrity v. State of New Jersey, 385 U.S. 493, 87 S.Ct. 616, 17 L.Ed.2d 562 (1967); Clewis v. State of Texas, 386 U.S. 707, 87 S.Ct. 1338 (1967); and Greenwald v. Wisconsin, 390 U.S. 519, 88 S.Ct. 1152, 20 L.Ed.2d 77 (1968).
These cases address themselves to the issues of voluntariness, ruling in each case that the inculpatory statements taken were not products of the free wills of any of those being interrogated.
In Garrity, police officers were questioned concerning irregularities in the handling of cases in municipal courts. Noting that these officers were given the choice of forfeiting their jobs or incriminating themselves and, likening it to a -choice “between the rock and the whirlpool,” the Court held that the waivers of Fifth Amendment rights were the results of duress.
After finding that the prisoner had never been fully advised of his Fifth Amendment rights during nine days of incarceration, that his original arrest was not supported by probable cause and that the “record inspires considerable concern” over his physical and mental well-being, the Cle-wis court concluded that the statement ultimately obtained was not voluntary.
In Greenwald the Supreme Court, after finding that the prisoner’s request for counsel was ignored, that his needs for “food, sleep and medication” were not met and, finally, noting “a lack or inadequacy of warning as to constitutional rights,” the Court concluded:
“Considering the totality of these cir-cwmstances, we do not think it credible that petitioner’s statements were the product of his free and rational choice.” (Emphasis supplied.)
390 U.S. at 521, 88 S.Ct. at 1154.
Mr. Lafferty’s situation when he personally wrote the statement and then explained its meaning to the officer was hardly comparable to the facts in either Garrity, Clewis or Greenwald. The Justice below had evidence from which he could find that appellant had been lawfully arrested; prior to any questioning he had been informed of his constitutional rights and had acknowledged to the officer his understanding thereof; the questioning began at 2:35 a. m. (only two hours subsequent to his arrest) and lasted only thirty [657]*657minutes; there was no evidence of force or duress; at his request he was allowed to place a long distance phone call to his mother; he then wrote the confession; he showed no evidence of any incapacity; the only emotion he demonstrated was a brief period of crying when told that his wife was dead, which preceded the police interrogation.
Applying the “totality of the circumstances” rule to these facts, it is clear that the record fully supports the conclusion of the Justice below that the statements were voluntary.
Trial Errors
The appellant seasonably objected to the formal admission into the record of the clothing, hunting knife and blood scrapings taken by the police, as well as his own statements. Since the same evidence was introduced before the jury as that at the prior suppression hearing, the constitutional argument against admission reiterated at the time of trial need not be discussed further.
Appellant also contended at trial that the physical evidence should not be admitted because the State had failed to prove properly the necessary continuity in the handling of these exhibits.
The record is clear that all physical exhibits were traced directly from a common source to an appropriate official at the headquarters of the Maine State Police. This official personally packaged the exhibits and sent them by registered mail to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on May 24, 1971. There the package was received intact by an expert in forensic serology on May 27, 1971. Registered mail receipts were admitted to support this testimony. In the same package in which they were sent the serologist, after conducting necessary tests, returned them by mail to the Maine State Police where they were received by the identical officer who had originally packaged and transmitted them to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This officer produced the exhibits and the package at the time of trial.
There is no suggestion in the record of any careless handling of the exhibits by anyone or that the exhibits had been tampered with in any way. There is no doubt that the tests made by the forensic serologist were conducted on these precise exhibits.4 There has been no showing of any break in continuity, unless the use of the mails, per se, can be so characterized.
Appellant argues that the serologist’s testimony is inadmissible because “there are missing links in the chain of evidence of identity of blood specimens.” State v. Foster, 198 Kan. 52, 422 P.2d 964 (1967) is cited to support this argument. In that case, however, the “chain of evidence connecting the defendant with the blood sample breaks with the posting of the sample” because no laboratory personnel testified as to what was done after its receipt. Here, the serologist actually received the exhibits, personally conducted [658]*658the tests, identified the exhibits as those tested, and testified before the jury. The case is not in point.
We recognize that the use of the mails is an acceptable means of prudently conducting many of the important transactions in our society. If such use was not so recognized and personal delivery of important materials and documents was mandated in order to prove prudence and due care by the business community, our economy would be stifled. While we recommend personal handling of exhibits in criminal cases when the circumstances reasonably permit, we do not feel inclined to adopt the per se rule appellant urges upon us. See Pasadena Research Laboratories v. United States, 169 F.2d 375, 381 (9th Cir. 1948).
We need not give elaborate treatment to the claim that Mrs. Lafferty’s statement made as she lay in obvious pain bleeding from twenty-three stab wounds within minutes after the episode was improperly admitted.
The State offered the statement not only as a dying declaration but also as part of the res gestae. It is true that no preliminary hearing on admissibility was had and none was requested. However, the essential facts were already in the record upon which the ruling was based. At a bench conference out of the hearing of the jury, the Justice below had clearly indicated his position, and this was prior to admitting the decedent’s statement. The appellant demonstrates no prejudice from this procedure.
That the ultimate statement of the decedent was admissible as either a dying declaration or part of the res gestae was settled by our recent holding in State v. Chaplin, 286 A.2d 325, 328 (Me.1972). Note the startling comparison between the facts here and those in Chaplin.
“As already noted Mrs. Chaplin was half led and half carried from her home by the defendant and placed in a reclining position on the lawn. She was bleeding profusely and was suffering mental and physical anguish from the wound she had just received. During the very short period she remained there before the arrival of an ambulance, she made certain statements, the most significant of which were addressed to her husband who remained kneeling beside her. These statements were admitted as dying declarations by the Court. Later in this opinion we will have occasion to discuss the rules applicable to such declarations. Suffice it to say that these declarations were admissible not only as dying declarations, the declarant giving every evidence of her knowledge of impending death and the hopelessness of her case, but also [on] other independent grounds. Mrs. Chaplin’s utterances on this occasion, following so soon after her traumatic experience as to form a part of it and to negative any opportunity or purpose to fabricate evidence, were admissible as part of the res gestae.
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Id. at 328.
We have examined other claimed trial errors and find them to be without merit.
Claimed Errors in Jury Instructions
Appellant now asserts four errors arising from the instructions to the jury, although only one objection was formally made at trial.
The evidence was concluded at 5:58 p.m. on October 22, 1971. The Justice below then stated: “[I] would request that counsel furnish the Court, in writing, any instructions that they may wish to have considered before argument tomorrow morning.” The next day after counsel for the State had argued, the Justice stated:
“THE COURT: Now, for the record and before the completion of final argument, the Court would like to say that the instructions that the Court [659]*659will give in this matter have been discussed at length with counsel in chambers, that numerous requests for instructions have been made by counsel for the State and counsel for the defendant, that insofar as practicable, the Court has endeavored to incorporate these requests into the instructions which will be given, other than in instances of where the instructions would be repetitive for the most part.
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MR. FRIEDMAN: Your Honor, the instructions that I requested in chambers have been granted by your Honor.
THE COURT: Thank you.”
Defense counsel then made his closing argument, following which the Justice below delivered his instructions to the jury, concluding with this language:
“As you can see from the instructions I’ve given you, you have three possible verdicts: not guilty, number two, guilty of murder, number three, guilty of manslaughter. Your verdict must be one of those three verdicts.’.’
The record next discloses this colloquy and additional instruction:
“[THE COURT] : Do counsel have any additions or corrections ?
MR. FRIEDMAN: May we approach the bench?
(The following bench conference was held out of the hearing of the jury.)
MR. FRIEDMAN: I think it was probably a slip of the tongue, but in defining the burden on the defendant in the event of reducing the offense from murder to manslaughter, you first started by saying that this burden is not necessarily beyond a reasonable doubt and then you went on to explain about the preponderance of the evidence, and I’m wondering whether the jury might not be confused by this . . . that is, if anyone picked it up.
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MR. FRIEDMAN: I would like to make an objection for the record on the instruction involving what constitutes an intervening cause between the act of the defendant and the resulting death of the deceased.
THE COURT: Anything else ?
MR. DAWSON: No.
MR. FRIEDMAN: No.
(The case was continued within the hearing of the jury.)
THE COURT: I have been asked to give one additional instruction
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And ... in regard to the degree of persuasion which the defendant must carry if he would attempt to reduce the offense from murder to manslaughter, and, as indicated to you, he has to persuade you of three things: that the killing was done in the heat of passion, that it was done on sudden provocation as defined to you previously, and that it was done without malice, expressed or implied. And, the degree of persuasion that is required is that he satisfy you by a fair preponderance of the evidence, which I explained to you before.
But, let me repeat that first of all, and above all, and throughout, the burden is on the State to satisfy you before there can be a verdict of guilty of any crime here, to satisfy you beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant here unlawfully killed Teresa Lafferty. If you don’t find that, if you are not satisfied as to that beyond a reasonable doubt, your verdict will be not guilty.
Is there anything further ?
All right.”
Although no objections were noted following the instructions to the jury, appel[660]*660lant now argues that instructions relating to the admissibility of dying declarations and statements admitted under res gestae rules were erroneous. Under similar conditions he also argues that the Justice below failed to instruct the jury properly "on the issues of voluntariness of admissions and confessions.”
Rule 30(b), Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure, provides:
“(b) Instructions. At the close of the evidence, or at such earlier time during the trial as the court reasonably directs, any party may file written requests that the court instruct the jury on the law as set forth in the requests. At the same time copies of such requests shall be furnished to the adverse parties. The court shall inform counsel of its proposed action upon the requests prior to their arguments to the jury, but the court shall instruct the jury after the arguments are completed. No party shall assign as error any portion of the charge or omission therefrom unless he objects thereto before the jury retires to consider its verdict, stating distinctly the matter to which he objects and the grounds of his objection. Opportunity shall be given to make the objection out of the hearing and presence of the jury.” (Emphasis supplied.)
Rule 52(b), M.R.Crim.P., provides:
“(b) Obvious error. Obvious errors or defects affecting substantial rights may be noticed although they were not brought to the attention of the court.”
We limit our initial comments to these belatedly advanced arguments. Our study of the treatment by the Justice below of these issues reveals that no substantial rights of the appellant were affected by the instructions given on these points.5 Since our holding in State v. Collins, 297 A.2d 620 (Me.1972), makes it clear that the jury has “no function” regarding the admissibility of a confession,6 appellant actually received a more favorable instruction than was required. We hold, therefore, since submitting the issue of admissibility to the jury did not affect any substantial right of the appellant, and because there was a failure to comply with Rule 30(b), these points were not properly preserved for appellate review.
We next consider the instruction on causation to which objection was seasonably noted. The jury was told:
“[T]he State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Teresa Lafferty died as a result of some act of the defendant. This is essentially cause and effect. Did some act of the defendant cause her death? There has been some suggestion that there might have been, or there may have been another cause of her death or that no act of the defendant was the cause of her death. I’ve been asked to read what is said to be the common law rule which is that, ‘The wrongdoer is not excused if the victim dies because the attending physician was negligent, unskilled, or made a mistake.’ This rule presupposes, however, the the [sic] injury of the victim was such that he would have died without any treatment in any case. And, I’m not, of course, in any way intimating that there was any negligence or neglect in the course of treatment, but I am suggesting to you that you do have the right to consider whether or not any act of the defendant was [661]*661the effective cause of the death of Teresa Lafferty. If you find that it was not, if you find that her death was due to some unrelated and separate cause, then one essential part of the crime has not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. But, I think you have a right to consider that if some act of the defendant set in motion a train of events, one flowing naturally from the other, which resulted ultimately in her death with no separate effective intervening cause — unrelated intervening cause, then you may, if you find that, you may find that some act did cause her death. And, again, this is entirely up to you. I’m only using the facts in this case as illustrations to show the applications of the rules I’m giving. You are the ones to decide whether or not any act of the defendant caused her death.”
It should be observed that the evidence submitted on the cause of death was that of a qualified pathologist whose conclusion stands unchallenged, namely, that Mrs. Lafferty “died from acute blood loss as a result of multiple stab wounds.” Although the doctor who treated Mrs. Laf-ferty at the hospital described his emergency treatment procedures in some detail, there was no testimony from any source critical of the methods he adopted. If the jury had found that “the attending physician was negligent, unskilled, or made a mistake,” it would have been pure speculation. In other words, the jury would have been compelled to go beyond the record to conclude that some “unrelated intervening cause” produced her death other than fatal hemorrhaging from stab wounds. Since the instruction complained of went beyond that which the record required to be given, the appellant has no cause to complain.
We note, however, our holding in State v. Hachey, 278 A.2d 397, 401 (Me.1971) where death was the result of septicemia developed following a gun shot wound, namely:
“The law is well settled that a Defendant is responsible even where the act was not the immediate cause of death if an intervening cause was the natural result of the wrongful act. State v. Rounds (Vt.1932) 104 Vt. 442, 160 A. 249.”
People v. Freudenberg, 121 Cal.App.2d 564, 263 P.2d 875, 888-889 (1953), recognized, as we do, the rule stated in 8 A.L. R. 516, as follows:
“ ‘When a person inflicts a wound on another which is dangerous, or calculated to destroy life, the fact that the negligence, mistake or lack of skill of an attending physician or surgeon contributes to the death affords no defense to a charge of homicide.’ ”
The instruction actually given, although not required under the factual background here presented, was more liberal to the appellant than required. There is no basis to his objection.
The final point which must be considered under the points of appeal directed at the jury instructions is premised on the theory that constitutional due process was violated because the Justice below modeled his instructions 7 on our recent holding in State v. Wilbur, 278 A.2d 139 (Me.1971).
The seemingly contradictory position of appellant’s counsel in now asserting that this instruction, although given as requested, is, in retrospect, an error of constitutional dimension and, therefore, reviewable under Rule 52(b), is understandable. At the time of appellant’s trial the decision of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Wilbur v. Mullaney, 473 F.2d 943 (1973), holding that Maine law unconstitutionally placed the burden of proving an essential element of the homicide punishable as murder on a criminal defendant, had not been published.
We could well end our discussion on this point by observing that not only [662]*662was Rule 30(b) not involved but also the instruction as given contained neither an obvious error nor defect which affected any substantial rights of the appellant. He had no right to have the jury charged otherwise. In short, we adhere without reservation to Maine’s traditional concept of “felonious homicide” as reviewed and reaffirmed in State v. Wilbur, and later in State v. Rollins, 295 A.2d 914 (Me.1972). We reject the conclusion reached in Wilbur v. Mullaney.
We deem it wise, however, to comment further because this is the first case which has reached us since the Federal Court decided Wilbur v. Mullaney. It would even then be sufficient to point to Rollins, observing that although the case preceded Wilbur v. Mullaney, the rationale therein refutes the position taken by the Federal Court.
Nevertheless, we do not hesitate to express our firm belief that a state court of last resort is better equipped to interpret its own state law, provided it trespasses on no federally guaranteed constitutional rights in so doing, than is any Federal court. Additionally, under traditional concepts of federalism, a Federal court has no right to reject the rational interpretations given a state law under those circumstances by the highest appellate court of that state. While, as we view it, the decision in Wilbur v. Mullaney violates both of these well established precepts, we feel constrained to state our reasons therefor.
The Federal Court, in holding that murder and manslaughter are two distinct offenses, found it of controlling significance that the Maine Revised Statutes Annotated provides, in isolated sections, differing penalties for the felonious homicides punishable as either. An understanding of the statutory history of these two sections (17 M.R.S.A. §§ 2551 and 2651) clearly demonstrates the insignificance of sectional statutory arrangement.
Chapter Two of the Laws of Maine, approved February 28, 1821, in three successive sections proscribed “wilful murder,” being “an accessory thereto,” and committing “the crime of manslaughter.” R.S. 1841, ch. 154, in five successive sections, expressed in statutory language the common law definition of murder, provided the death penalty if “express malice” existed, for life imprisonment otherwise, and defined the homicide punishable as manslaughter in the classical language even now found in 17 M.R.S.A. § 2551. It was in the context of R.S. 1841, ch. 154, §§ 1 and 5, that State v. Conley, 39 Me. 78, 87 (1854), noted:
“By the common law, felonious homicide is the killing of any human being without justification or excuse. . It [felonious homicide] is divided into manslaughter and murder.” (Emphasis supplied.)
Conley clearly holds:
“When a party is charged in an indictment with the crime of murder, the felony actually committed is the same, whether it has all the elements of murder ... or whether it is wanting in the criterion of murder, and is therefore manslaughter only.” (Emphasis supplied.)
Id. at 88. As illustrated by Wilbttr and Rollins, the holding in Conley has been retained as the law of Maine in the intervening years. If, as Wilbur v. Mullaney suggests, the Maine Legislature would be shocked to learn that “felonious homicide,” as a criminal concept, encompassed conduct punishable as either murder or manslaughter, it has withstood the trauma since 1854.
It is equally clear that when the 1964 Revised Statutes were annotated, no effort was made to do so in terms of generalizing concépts of criminal conduct in contiguous sections. Alphabetical listing was given priority. For example, 17 M.R.S.A. § 1 defines the crime of Abduction, which is followed by succeeding sections dealing with Abortion, Adultery, Arson, Assault and Battery, et cetera, and finally concluding [663]*663with sections on Treason, Trespass, Unprotected Wells and Miscellaneous Crimes. All one need observe to demonstrate the complete insignificance of the sectional arrangement found in our current Annotated Statutes is to revert to the immediate predecessor thereof, the 1954 Revised Statutes, and note that Chapter 130, §§ 1 and 8, dealing with the homicide punishable as either murder or manslaughter, used essentially the same language as did R.S. 1841, ch. 154, §§ 1 and 5.
The reliance in Wilbur v. Mulla-ney on the sectional arrangement of the Maine Statutes as a basis of attacking Rollins because we gave it “no recognition” results in an obvious response: Why should the completely insignificant sectional arrangement of the Annotated Statutes to serve alphabetical purposes, be given “recognition” as proof of a change in the legislative concept of felonious homicide? We deny the right of the Federal Court to interpret the rationale underlying the acts of the Maine Legislature contrary to the interpretation given by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. We do not hesitate to hold that by authorizing the sectional arrangement of the 1964 Maine Revised Statutes Annotated, the Legislature did not intend to abrogate the concept of a felonious homicide, a viable part of Maine criminal law since it became a state.
The Federal Court seized upon State v. Merry, 136 Me. 243, 8 A.2d 143 (1939); Collins v. Robbins, 147 Me. 163, 84 A.2d 536 (1951); State v. Ernst, 150 Me. 449, 114 A.2d 369 (1955); and State v. Park, 159 Me. 328, 193 A.2d 1 (1963), to refute the holding in Wilbur and to demonstrate that, under these decisions, “murder” and “manslaughter” are separate and distinct crimes. Since the precise issue now before us was not present in any of these cases, we find it somewhat ironic that the Federal Court did not cite Brine v. State, 264 A.2d 530, 533 (Me.1970), where the jury instruction approved in State v. Knight, 43 Me. 11, 137 (1857), was reaffirmed, namely, “if the accused would reduce the crime below the degree of murder, the burden is on him to rebut the inference of malice which the law raises from the act of killing, by evidence in defense.”
It was thus inappropriate for the Federal Court to conclude that Conley and Knight had been overruled by Merry, Collins, Ernst and Park. If it was proper to accuse the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine of attempting, in Wilbur, to make “an end run” around In Re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970), and in so doing with being “offside,”8 we might suggest that the failure of the Federal Court to discuss Brine, or even to recognize its current cogency (as Wilbur did), results in the “offside” call having been made against the wrong team.
Against such background and within the context of the overall import of Maine law, as ultimately expounded in Wilbur and reaffirmed in Rollins, it is a startling invasion of the function of a State’s highest Court to be the final and controlling expositor of the content of the State’s internal law that a federal court should (1) invoke the surface appearance of state statutes; (2) fix selectively upon the casual and imprecise language (at best dicta) in Merry, Collins v. Robins, Ernst and, most notably, Park, to make its own interpretation of the law of the State and conclude that by 1963, at least, the law of Maine had become established (contrary to what it had previously been) that murder and manslaughter were the names of two separate crimes rather than of degrees, for penalty purposes, of the single crime, unlawful (felonious) homicide; and (3) to take such approach on the basis of the federal tribunal’s conception of the true content of Maine law in defiance of the ring[664]*664ing endorsement given in 1970 in Brine to the Conley and Knight conceptions.
Finally, Wilbur v. Mullaney adopted the false premise that Maine law unconstitutionally uses the presumption [of malice aforethought] as a device “to shift the burden of proof onto the defendant” of an essential element of the crime of felonious homicide punishable as murder. As we read the case, the Federal Court was of the impression that this crime includes, in addition to an intentional and unlawful killing, the independent element of “malice aforethought.” Such is not, and never has been, the law of Maine. As we said in Rollins,
“the ‘malice’ (said to be ‘presumed’) is not a designation of any subjective state of mind existing as a fact. Similarly, the ‘presumption’ (of ‘malice’) arising from the fact of an intentional killing is not a designation of any probative relationship between the fact of ‘intention’ relating to the killing and any further facts . . . . ”
295 A.2d at 920.
The Federal Court overlooked Maine precedent which demonstrates the fallacy of the premise upon which its discussion of the presumption of malice aforethought was based.
State v. Turmel, 148 Me. 1, 88 A.2d 367 (1952) not only cites State v. Knight, supra, but explicitly negates the federal Court’s identification of “malice aforethought” with “premeditation” when it says:
“Malice aforethought does not necessarily mean that there must be specific intent to kill . . . .” (p. 6, 88 A.2d p. 369)
In addition, by quoting from an early Massachusetts case, it reaches back to English common law for a statement emphasizing that objectively dangerous conduct, as differentiated from the subjective factor of “premeditation” may be productive of “malice aforethought”:
“ ‘[B]ut he who wilfully and deliberately does any act, which apparently endangers another’s life and thereby occasions his death, shall, unless he clearly prove the contrary, be adjudged to kill him of malice prepense.’ ” (p. 7, 88 A.2d p. 369)
We do not understand In Re Winship to hold that, in order to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt the prosecution must not only so prove each essential element of the crime charged but also must negate beyond a reasonable doubt all mitigating circumstances, even those fully subjective in nature, knowledge of which can only exist in the mind of the accused. Wilbur v. Mulla-ney places such a burden on the State of Maine because it completely misconceives our traditional concept of “malice aforethought.” In so doing, it installs itself as the final arbiter of the internal law of the State of Maine, not only in defiance of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, but with apparent disregard of the admonition in Gooding v. Wilson, 405 U.S. 518, 92 S.Ct. 1103, 31 L.Ed.2d 408 (1972), which held:
“Only the [State] courts can supply the requisite construction [of a criminal statute], since of course ‘we lack jurisdiction authoritatively to construe state legislation.’ ”
In the interest of clarity, we summarize our concept of “malice aforethought” as related to the crime of felonious homicide punishable as murder.
Maine law does not rely on a presumption of “premeditation” (as Wilbur v. Mullaney assumed) to prove an essential element of unlawful homicide punishable as murder. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt of “malice aforethought” (in the sense of “premeditation”) is not essential to conviction. Evidence of “premeditation”, such as hatred, ill-will or malevolence, is properly admissible, not because the State must prove “premeditation” be[665]*665yond a reasonable doubt, but because it is relevant and material as tending to prove beyond a reasonable doubt one circumstance, inter alia, which can make a killing unlawful. On the other hand, the failure of the State to prove “premeditation” in this context is not fatal to such a prosecution because, by legal definition under Maine law, a killing becomes unlawful and punishable as “murder” on proof of “any deliberate, cruel act, committed by one person against another, suddenly without any, or without a considerable provocation.” State v. Neal, 37 Me. 468, 470 (1854).9 Neal has been frequently cited with approval by our Court. cf. Bessey v. State, 297 A.2d 373 (Me.1972); State v. Wilbur, supra; State v. McCarthy, 256 A.2d 660 (Me.1969); State v. Doyon, 221 A.2d 827 (Me.1966); State v. Park, supra; State v. Duguay, 158 Me. 61, 178 A. 2d 129 (1962).
Ruling on Motions for Acquittal and New Trial
We do not overlook either the appellant’s motion for acquittal or his motion for a new trial, both of which were correctly denied by the Justice below.
As indicated by our factual summary herein, the evidence in its totality was sufficient to support the verdict.
The appellant has also argued, in support of these motions, that he was “unlawfully induced” to testify because the State introduced evidence which was “the fruits of illegal arrest, seizures, searches” and “illegally obtained admissions and confessions.” In view of our holding herein to the contrary, this argument must fall.
The entry is:
Appeal denied.
All Justices concurring.
DUFRESNE, C. J., did not sit.
WEBBER, J., sat at oral argument but retired before the adoption of this opinion.