Commonwealth v. Mink

123 Mass. 422 (1877)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
C
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Commonwealth v. Mink

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
123 Mass. 422 (1877)

Facts

Mink (defendant) was indicted for the murder of Charles Ricker. At trial, Ms. Mink introduced evidence that she had been engaged to Ricker and when he expressed his intention of breaking off the engagement at her home, she retrieved a nearby pistol and attempted to commit suicide by pointing the gun at her head. However, Ricker stopped her from firing the gun. Thereafter Ricker and Mink engaged in a struggle and the gun discharged, killing Ricker. The court instructed the jury that if the evidence showed that Mink pointed a loaded gun at her head for the purposes of committing suicide, that she was about to do an unlawful act. Additionally, the court instructed that Mink is guilty of manslaughter if the doing of her unlawful act resulted in Ricker’s death, albeit unintentional. Mink was convicted and she appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Gray, C.J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 811,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Criminal Law

Key Terms