This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

At his trial, Knapp (D) claimed that he had killed the deceased in self-defense. To show that he had reason to fear the deceased, he testified that he had heard of an incident where the deceased, the marshal of Hagerstown, had beaten an old man while arresting him and that the man had died of his injuries. Over D's objection, the state introduced evidence that the old man had actually died of senility and alcoholism. D argued that the significance of his testimony was the fact that he had heard the story, not its truth or falsity, and that evidence regarding the old man's cause of death was not relevant.

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