Mayes v. People

Mayes (defendant) returned home intoxicated and acted belligerently toward his wife, daughter, and mother-in-law. After he threw a tin measure at his daughter, his wife led her to safety with a lit oil lamp; Mayes then threw a beer mug that struck and shattered his wife's lamp, igniting her clothing, and he made no effort to put out the fire. She died from her burns days later. At trial, Mayes claimed he had only meant to throw the mug out an open door, but his daughter and mother-in-law contradicted him. He requested a jury instruction requiring proof he intended to injure his wife specifically; instead, the court instructed the jury it could convict if it found he acted with an abandoned and malignant heart, and he was convicted of murder.