by John Marshall Harlan

“ Of course, the defendant intends to do what he does, but he must be laboring at the time he performs the act under intense mental excitement, such as would render any ordinarily prudent person for the time being incapable of that cool reflection that otherwise makes it murder. ”

“ It further instructed the jury: 'The homicide becomes justifiable when the party that is charged with taking human life has been unlawfully assaulted himself by his adversary, and is placed in a position of peril, where his life is about to be taken, or serious bodily harm is about to be done him, or, from the acts of his adversary, it reasonably indicates to the defendant, or would reasonably indicate to the mind of any other person situated as the defendant was, an intention, coupled with the ability, upon the part of his adversary, to take his life or do him serious bodily harm. ”

“ The accused contends that, under this statute, the taking of human life without malice, even though it be intentional, is not manslaughter, unless the act be done 'unlawfully and willfully'; and that the instruction given was erroneous, in that it did not instruct the jury that, before they could convict of manslaughter, it must appear from the evidence that the killing was not only intentional, but was unlawful and willful. ”