Maupins

Defendant was convicted upon an information filed August 11, 1915, charging him with the crime of mayhem.

He appeals from the judgment and an order denying his motion for a new trial.

The fact that the court refused to give certain instructions requested by defendant is assigned as prejudicial error. An examination of the oral charge made by the court to the jury discloses that the substance of these requested instructions was fully covered therein; hence there was no necessity for repetition. (People v. Williams, 32 Cal. 280 ; People v. Strong, 30 Cal. 151 .) Appellant, while conceding this proposition, nevertheless insists that where the refusal to give an instruction is based upon such ground it is incumbent upon the court to so state in the presence of the jury. This contention finds support in People v. Hurley, 8 Cal. 390, 392 , and People, v. Williams, 17 Cal. 142 , in the latter of which it is said: “If the court refuses a proper instruction in a criminal case, it is no answer to the error assigned for this cause, that an equivalent one was before given, unless this reason be assigned at the time for the refusal.” We do not concede the doctrine thus enunciated in these…