Gaston County NcArchives Court.....Alphonso Rhyne, State V. 1899
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Connie Ardrey n/a December 13, 2011, 7:23 pm

Source: N C Reports
Written: 1899

State v. Alphonso Rhyne

(Decided May 9, 1899)

Murder - 1st and 2nd Degree - Evidence of Deliberation & Premeditation - Act 
of 1893, Chap. 85

1. At common law, the intentional killing of a human being with a deadly 
weapon, nothing more appearing, was murder, malice being presumed from the 
facts.

2. By the Act of 1893, chapter 85, the crime of murder has been divided into 
two degrees, first and second. The common law definition and description are 
still applicable to the crime in the second degree; but it takes more than 
this to constitute murder in the first degree - the killing must be willful, 
deliberate and premeditated, and this must be shown by the State beyond a 
reasonable doubt before it is justified in asking a verdict of guilty of 
murder in the first degree.

3. The law is fixed by the statute, that the killing must be willful, upon 
premeditation and with deliberation, and where there is no evidence tending to 
prove this, the jury should be so instructed, and the question of guilt on the 
charge of murder in the first degree ought not to be submitted to them.

Indictment for murder, tried before Coble, J., at Spring Term, 1899, of Gaston 
Superior Court.

The prisoner was indicted for the murder of Thomas G. Falls. The evidence is 
fully stated in the opinion.

Among the special instructions asked by the prisoner were the following:

8. In no aspect of the testimony and under no reasonable inference that can be 
fairly drawn from it, is the prisoner guilty of murder in the first degree.

9. At most the jury can only convict of murder in the second degree.

11. There is no evidence of deliberation and premeditation in this case.

His Honor declined to give these instructions. Prisoner excepted. Verdict of 
guilty of murder in the first degree. Sentence of death. Appeal by prisoner.

D. W. Robinson, for prisoner
Zeb. B. Walser, Attorner General, and Jones & Tillett, for the State

NC Supreme Court Justice Furches, J. - The prisoner was indicted and convicted 
of murder in the first degree, and from judgment of the Court, he appealed. 
There are some exceptions taken to the charge, but we have examined them with 
care and do not think they can be sustained. The charge seems to be a full, 
clear and correct enunciation of the law of murder in the first and second 
degrees, as it exists under the statute of 1893. The error, if there be error, 
is in submitting the question of murder in the first degree to the jury upon 
the evidence in the case. That Thomas Falls had been killed by the prisoner 
with a deadly weapon was clearly shown. 

After a full consideration of this case we are compelled to order a new trial 
for the reason that we are of the opinion there is no evidence to support a 
verdict for murder in the first degree. (See court case for judge's full 
findings)

New trial.

Additional Comments:
In the NC Supreme Court February Term 1899

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