It is better to allow one guilty of a misdemeanor to escape rather than take his life. So an officer having a prisoner in custody who had been convicted of assault and battery and ordered committed in default of payment of the fine assessed, shoots and kills him to prevent his escape, is guilty either of murder or manslaughter according to the circumstances attending the killing.59 Or if an officer uses more force than is necessary in making an arrest, or if thrown into the heat of passion by the prisoner resisting and striking him and the officer kills him, the killing under the circumstances is manslaughter.60