## Facts

- Calvin Bradley was indicted in Mississippi circuit court for common assault and battery against Lydia Bradley, identified as his wife.
- Bradley pleaded (1) not guilty, (2) *son assault demesne* (claiming the alleged victim first assaulted him), and (3) that Lydia was his lawful wife.
- At trial, the defense requested a jury instruction that if Lydia was Bradley’s wife at the time, the jury could not find him guilty.
- The trial court refused and instead instructed the jury that a husband could commit an assault and battery on his wife.
- The jury convicted Bradley; he sought review by writ of error, challenging the refusal of his requested instruction.
- The evidence was described as showing he beat and bruised his wife.

## Issues

1. Whether, under then-applicable common-law principles, marriage barred a criminal conviction for assault and battery by a husband upon his wife.
2. Whether the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury that the defendant could not be found guilty if the victim was his wife.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed the conviction.
- The court held that a husband may be convicted of assault and battery upon his wife.
- The court rejected an “unlimited licence” for marital chastisement as inconsistent with law and humanity.
- The court indicated it might hesitate to affirm where the record showed the husband stayed within “reasonable bounds,” but concluded the conduct here exceeded any permissible moderation.

## Legal Principles

- Marriage does not immunize a husband from criminal liability for assault and battery committed against his wife.
- Any common-law notion of “moderate correction” is not absolute and does not bar prosecution for excessive or injurious force.
- A trial court need not instruct that spousal status is a complete defense to an assault-and-battery indictment.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed Bradley’s conviction, holding that criminal law reaches a husband’s assault and battery on his wife and that any claimed marital privilege to chastise is, at most, narrowly limited and cannot justify serious violence.


Bradley v. State, 1 Miss. (1 Walker) 156 (Miss. 1824)