The Territory vs. Bannigan.
mon man; and so to convince bim that he would venture to act upon that conviction, in matters of the highest concern and importance to his own interest."
In the case of People v. Brannon, 47 Cal., 96, the jury were told that it was their duty to convict if they should "be satisfied of the guilt of the defendant to such a moral certainty as would influence the minds of the jury in the important affairs of life;" and the Court say: "The judgment of a reasonable man in the ordinary affairs of life, however important, is influenced and controlled by the preponderance of evidence. Juries are permitted and instructed to apply the same rule to the determination of civil actions involving rights of property only. But in the decision of a criminal case involving life or liberty, something further is required. There must be in the minds of the jury an abiding conviction to a moral certainty, of the truth of the charge, derived from a comparison and consideration of the evidence. They must be entirely satisfied of the guilt of the accused."
This doctrine is strongly implied in Chief Justice Shaw's definition of a reasonable doubt, (Commonwealth v. Webster, 5 Cush., 320,) perhaps the most accurate that has ever been given: "It is that state of the case which, after the entire comparison and consideration of all the evidence, leaves the minds of jurors in that condition that they cannot say they feel an abiding conviction to a moral certainty of the truth of the charge; a certainty that convinces and directs the understanding, and satisfies the reason and judgment of those who are bound to act conscientiously upon it."
Human life is too sacred to be weighed in the coarse balances by which men adjust even the important affairs of life; scales which turn at the touch of a bare preponderance, by which the issues are determined, but which are not sensible to the finer elements of purpose and intent which lie hidden in act and deed.
Purpose and intent can only be shown by external conduct, which fallible man is too frequently unable to read aright, and only too willing to labor to make it read wrong; therefore, before he condemns, even though the scales may swing
