The judge in any criminal cause, shall not sum up or comment on the testimony, or charge the jury as to the weight of evidence; but at the request of either party he shall instruct the jury upon the principles of law applicable to the case. All instructions asked by either party must be in writing, and all alterations or modifications of instructions given by the court or refused shall be in writing, and those given may be taken out by the jury on its retirement. The clerk, before they are read or given to the jury, shall mark all instructions asked by either party, or given by the court, as being 'given' or 'refused,' as the case may be, and all instructions so marked shall be a part of the record, on appeal, without a bill of exceptions.Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 61, art. 1(144); 1857, ch. 61, art. 161; 1871, § 643; 1880, § 1714; 1892, § 732; 1906, § 793; Hemingway's 1917, § 577; 1930, § 586; 1942, § 1530.
Mississippi Legal Code