Minton v. State
Minton v. State
Opinion of the Court
The appellant was charged by indictment with involuntary manslaughter under Acts 1941, Ch. 148, §2, pp. 447, 448, being §10-3405, Burns’ Ann. St. (1956 Repl.). He was tried by the court and found guilty as charged and sentenced to the Indiana State Prison for a period of not less than two (2) nor more than twenty-one (21) years. The appellant assigns as error the overruling of his motion for a new trial and specifically, that the finding of the court is contrary to law and is not sustained by sufficient evidence.
This requires a brief review of the evidence most favorable to the state. Tait v. State (1963), 244 Ind. 35, 188 N. E. 2d 537; Myles v. State (1955), 234 Ind. 129, 124 N. E. 205.
The evidence shows that the appellant was forty-seven (47) years old; that the decedent had been living with him in the sanie home some time prior to February 23, 1961, the date of the alleged crime; that the appellant had put the decedent out.of the house after an argument, and when the de
Some suggestion is made in the' argument that the corpus delicti was not proved. Such a position is without merit in this case. We have said:
“A dead body alone is not proof of the corpus delicti in a homicide case; but an identified dead body with marks of violence thereon or surrounding circumstances, that would indicate the deceased did not idie from natural causes establishes prima facie, that a homicide has been committed and the corpus delicti.” Brown v. State (1958), 239 Ind. 184, 190, 154 N. E. 2d 720, 722.
It is néxt contended that there is not sufficient proof of criminal intent of the appellant to sustain the charge of involuntary manslaughter because of the appellant’s intoxication. Drunkenness is no defense to the crime of involuntary manslaughter, since specific intent is not embraced within the crime. Dobbs v. State (1957), 237 Ind. 119, 143 N. E. 2d 99; Aszman v. The State (1890), 123 Ind. 347, 24 N. E. 123, 8 L. R. A. 33.
It is only necessary that thé killing be done in the commission of an unlawful act. The unlawful act in this, case was the pointing of a loaded gun and the discharging of same at the decedent. The court had a right to believe that the appellant
Where the evidence is conflicting upon any point, the trial court’s, finding must be affirmed by this court. Lander v. State (1959), 238 Ind. 680, 154 N. E. 2d 507.
A judgment will not be reversed for insufficiency of evidence unless there is a total lack thereof' to support an essential element pf the offense. Arrington v. State (1952), 230 Ind. 384, 103 N. E. 2d 210; Pendleton v. State (1959), 239 Ind. 341, 156 N. E. 2d 782.
The evidence is uncontradicted; that the unlawful act of pointing and discharging the shotgun at the' decedent was the proximate cause of the death. In. doing so,, appellant violated Acts 1905, Ch. 169, §452, p. 688, being §10-4708; Burns’ Ann. St. (1956 Repl.) regarding the aiming of firearms.
“Our statutes are intended to require all persons. to be exceedingly, cautious and careful in the use and handling of firearms, and one who purposely draws upon another a gun or pistol does- an' unlawful act, and is guilty of felonious homicide if death results from the act, unless, indeed, the act of pointing the weapon is. justifiable or excusable upon some legal ground. Lange v. State, 95 Ind. 114.;
“Voluntary drunkenness is/ho excuse for prime. Goodwin v. State, 96 Ind. 550 and auth. cited. It can not avail the-appellant that he did the unlawful act in the spirit of mere drunken bravado. Human life can not be so cheapened as to permit voluntary drunkenness to shield an accused person who, in the commission of an unlawful act, unintentionally takes another’s life.
*640 ■“It is clear that the case before us is not one which will justify a departure from the long established rule of this court, never to undertake to determine the credibility of witnesses, or to interfere with the verdict of a jury upon the evidence, except in the plainest and strongest cases of a disregard or misapplication of the evidence by the jury.” Surber v. The State (1884), 99 Ind. 71, 76.
For the reasons stated, we find no error, and the judgment is affirmed.
Landis, C. J., and Achor and Myers, JJ., concur; Jackson, J., dissents with opinion.
(1) The dissenting opinion of Judge Jackson says that the majority opinion indicates that the decedent was put out of the house of the appellant on the same day as the homicide and that “the undisputed evidence” shows that the ejectment and argument occurred “a day or so prior to the homicide.” The majority opinion does not so state. The fact is that the evidence is somewhat confused upon that point and it is not decisive for us on appeal, but rather a matter to be weighed by the triers of the fact.
Direct examination by the appellee’s attorney reveals the following:
“Q. You stated earlier that the Defendant said that he had had an argument with Cline earlier that day.
“A. Yes, sir. He stated that it was either yesterday or the day before, that he had put Minton, or put Cline out of the house, had an argument with him and put him out of the house.”
In earlier examination the same witness said:
“... He stated to me that Cline had been put out of the house after an argument, but he stated that it was either yesterday or the day before that he had come back to attempt to get in, that he had attempted to break in the back door and ... he got the shotgun and shot him.”
Officer Dehn made the following statement: .
“Our investigation: showed ..that. Mr, Minton, along with the Mr. Olinger and Mr. Cline,'had been drinking since approximately' 10:00 a:m.' on the morning of the shooting,'.and that up to approximately three or' fohr o’clock that day they had consumed approximately three fifths óf whiskey, that an argument had ensued between Mr. Minton and Mr. Cline that morning during this drinking bout over the property that Mr. Minton owed.”
Whether or not the argument happened the same day as the homicide is somewhat confused and is not “undisputed evidence.”
The dissenting opinion further states that there are “glaring errors” in that a police officer referred to the gun used in the
“Q. Yes. Then what did you do?
“A. Well, I got the shotgun then.
■ “Q; Yes. Why did you get the shotgun?
“A. Well, I was going to stop them from going in, whoever it was.”
Appellant in his own brief states:
“That Appellant shot decedent has never been in issue, either iii the trial Court or before this Honorable Court. More than six months prior to the trial the Appellant made a recorded statement to the police, which disclosed, without equivocation, that the Appellant shot the decedent.”
We do not search the transcript on appeal for minor errors not raised in the briefs.
The dissenting opinion also states “according to the uncontradicted evidence in-the record,” that the appellant “never saw or identified” the decedent until after he had warned him twice to leave. Yet the evidence, even by the appellant himself, says that he shot him at a distance of 3 to 6 feet — a man he well knew, and unarmed. In his statement to the police officer he undoubtedly knew who it was, since he said he had come back after the argument in an attempt to get in. .
These are all matters for the finders of the fact — -the jury or judge in the trial court to determine — it is not for a judge of this court to weigh the evidence.
Dissenting Opinion
I disagree with the conclusion reached by the majority opinion and dissent thereto. The statement of facts contained in the majority opinion ignores evidence of probative value that requires consideration not for the purpose of weighing evidence, but to ascertain whether or not the finding of the court is sustained by sufficient evidence and whether or not it is contrary to law.
The majority opinion indicates that appellant put decedent out of the house after an argument the day of the homicide; that later that evening decedent returned to appellant’s home and tried to get back in the house whereupon appellant shot, and killed decedent. The un
Under the circumstances disclosed by the record before us, there was a total failure on the . part of the State to prove in its case in chief the defendant’s [appellant’s] guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, arid the refusal of the court to sustain the. motion to discharge at the conclusion of the State’s evidence before introduction of evidence on behalf of defendant constitutes reversible error. Lindley v. State (1929), 201 Ind. 165, 166 N. E. 661; Dorak v. State (1915), 183 Ind. 622, 624, 109 N. E. 771; Fritz v. State (1912), 178 Ind. 463, 466 99 N. E. 727; Osborn v. State (1904), 164 Ind. 262, 271, 73 N. E. 601; Howard v. State (1897), 50 Ind. 190.
Other glaring errors are apparent from the record. These will be touched on only briefly without discussion. A fatal variance exists in the introduction of
Finally, the majority opinion errs in concluding that •“[t]he unlawful act in this case was the pointing of a loaded gun and the discharging of same at the. decedent. The court had a right to believe that the appellant knew the person whom he was shooting.” There is no evidence whatever in the record to sustain either conclusion, on the contrary the uncóntradicted evidence is that the pointing and firing of the gun was not unlawful and that appellant did not know the person who was shot and the trial court had no right to indulge in any such inference, presumption or belief. All presumptions must be indulged in favor of the innocence of the defendant and not otherwise. The evidence is uncontradicted and unimpeached that appellant saw only the hand or arm of. decedent and never saw his face or body to determine who the intruder, was, the only evidence in the record is that the identity of decedent was unknown until after the shooting.
The judgment of the trial court should be reversed and cause remanded for a new trial.
Note. — Reported in 195' N.- E. 2d 355. '
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Minton v. State of Indiana
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