People v. Van Deleer

The defendant is charged with having administered “ a poisonous and noxious substance ” to the prosecuting witness. The section under which the indictment was framed is as follows : “ Sec. 216—Every person who, with intent to kill, administers, or causes or ¡procures to be administered, to another any poison or other noxious or destructive substance or liquid, but by which death is not caused, is punishable by imprisonment in the State Prison not less than ten years.”

The Court instructed the jury that if the defendant gave or administered to Henry Warmstead “ either a poisonous or noxious substance, with the intent then and there to kill him, as alleged in the indictment,” they must find the defendant guilty. The Court defined poisonous and noxious substances as follows: “ A poisonous substance is one which has an inherent and deleterious property capable of destroying life. A noxious substance is not necessarily poisonous, but may be a substance which is hurtful and injurious.”

Accurate definitions of those terms cannot be readily given, and, perhaps, are impossible, and proximate accuracy is all that may be required in the application of the statute in a given case; but the…