Martin v. Commonwealth
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In Martin v. Commonwealth, 184 Va. 1009, 1018-1019, 37 S. E. 2d 43, 47 (1946), the Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed a conviction of murder against a wife who had shot her husband at his request. The Court stated that:
- "'The right to life and to personal security is not only sacred in the estimation of the common law, but it is inalienable.'"
The decision is significant in demonstrating that the common law defended the sanctity of life.