Chapman v. State
Chapman v. State
Opinion of the Court
Appellant was indicted for the murder of Perry Tools and convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to a term of six years in the state penitentiary. She prosecutes this appeal, contending, first, that the trial court erred in refusing to grant her request for a directed verdict, and, second, that the verdict was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and that therefore appellant’s motion for a new trial should have been sustained. Her contentions are based upon a claim that her own testimony to the effect that she struck the deceased twice with a stick to prevent him from attacking her with a knife established a clear case of self-defense, and was uncontradicted by either physical facts or other material testimony. These contentions may be considered together and necessitate a statement of the material testimony.
The homicide occurred in a small frame house in the Town of Philadelphia, where the appellant and the deceased conducted a cafe as partners. The deceased was a cripple, having a cork leg, and weighed about 165 pounds, and was nearly six feet tall. The appellant weighed about 96 pounds. Only two witnesses were introduced on behalf of the State, namely, Dr. Claude Yates and Martha Houston. Dr. Yates testified that the deceased was brought to him for treatment on the night of August 22, 1949, and that he was then unconscious and suffering from a contused wound on the right side of his head, which extended from his forehead back above the right ear, and that he died from this wound on the night of August 25, 1949, without regaining consciousness. Dr.
Martha Houston testified substantially as follows: That she knew both the appellant and the deceased and lived in the fifth house down the street from the cafe conducted by appellant and the deceased, a distance of from fifty to seventy-five yards; that from her front porch she could see the porch and front door of the cafe; that on the morning of the day of the difficulty, she saw the deceased sitting on the porch of the cafe; that he later left and went up the hill and entered a taxicab for the purpose of going to town; that as he proceeded along the way to the taxicab he was heard to say that if any of you have a damn thing against me, you had better keep it up your sleeves. This witness testified that the deceased was staggering and was drunk. She further stated that the deceased returned later in the afternoon and was sitting on the porch of the cafe, and that at this time, she, the witness, entered her house. The witness further stated that shortly thereafter she heard the appellant hollering and cursing, and she came out on her front porch and looked in the direction of the cafe, and saw the figure of a man apparently lying in the doorway of the cafe, with his feet extending on the porch, and the remainder of his body in the house. She further stated that she then saw the appellant come out of the cafe with a stick in her hand, and go to the woodpile and exchange it for another stick, and then re-enter the cafe, and she then heard the appellant several times apply a vile epithet to the deceased and say that she would kill him, and heard sounds like she was beating him. She saw the motion of the stick as it was wielded back and forth, but she was unable to see the appellant. Later the appellant came out of the cafe and sat on the porch of the cafe. This witness identified the two sticks which had been recovered by the officers and produced on the trial, and the larger of which was taken from the woodpile and had blood on it.
The proof further shows that after the difficulty the deceased was found lying on his back in the doorway with that part of his body from his knees to his feet extending on the porch, and the remainder of his body in the house, with his right hand crumpled under his body and with an open knife in his right hand. It is not clear from the testimony how long he lay in the doorway before the arrival of the police officer. The police officer testified that he was notified of the difficulty and went to
This is not a case where the exculpatory statements of the accused stand uncontradicted by physical facts or other material testimony, and therefore the cases of Houston v. State, 117 Miss. 311, 78 So. 182; Patty v. State, 126 Miss. 94, 88 So. 498, and Weathersby v. State, 165 Miss. 207, 147 So. 481, and other like decisions, of this Court, are not applicable. The jury was under no compulsion to wholly accept the testimony of the appellant and reject material testimony in contradiction thereof. Wingo v. State, 91 Miss. 865, 45 So. 862.
We think that the guilt or innocence of the appellant was a matter for the determination of the jury under the conflicting testimony, and that the trial court properly denied the appellant’s request for a directed verdict. We
Affirmed.
The above opinion is adopted as the opinion of the Court, and for the reasons therein indicated the case is affirmed.
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