Huntington

The information charged defendant with murder, and the jury returned a verdict of manslaughter, upon which judgment was rendered, sentencing him to ten years’ imprisonment in the state prison. He appeals from the judgment and from an order denying his motion for a new trial.

Appellant contends that the following instruction was erroneous: “ ‘Moral certainty’ is that degree of proof which the law requires of moral evidence. ‘Moral certainty’ is described as a state of impression produced by facts in which a reasonable mind feels a sort of coercion or necessity to act in accordance with it.” In our opinion this instruction should not have been given. It is in violation of frequent admonitions of this court that instructions on the general subject of reasonable doubt should be confined to the language that has been frequently approved, and is an unnecessary innovation. Moreover, it lacks precision and clearness, and leads to confusion. The use of the word “impression” as the basis of conviction in a criminal case is an uncertain and dangerous use of language. Moreover, what definite notion can there be of “coercion” which is only “a sort” of coercion? The language of the instruction…