Bland v. State
Bland v. State
Opinion of the Court
The appellant, George Bland, was convicted in the circuit court of Scott County on a charge of assault and battery with intent to kill and murder one O. C. Smith, and was sentenced to imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a term of ten years. From that judgment he prosecutes this appeal.
The shooting occurred in the Negro section of the City of Forest about the middle of the afternoon of the first Sunday in September, 1951. According to the testimony of Lilla Capíes, the mother of O. C. Smith, the appellant came to Lilia’s house about 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon and called for O. C. Smith, who was living in the house with his mother. O. C. went to the door, and while he was standing in the door with one hand on the side of the door and was holding the screen with the other hand the appellant shot him in the face. Lilia stated that O. C. had no weapon of any kind in his hand at the time he was shot. The doctor who examined the injured man, testified that both eyes were affected by the gunshots, and that in his opinion O. C. would be completely blind in one eye, except that he might be able to tell the difference between light and darkness. The night marshal of the City of Forest testified that he arrested the appellant in the appellant’s front yard, about 100 yards north of Lilla Capíes’ house, soon after the shooting; that the appellant had a single barrel shotgun which he delivered to the officer when he was arrested. The appellant also delivered to the officer three shells that he had in his pocket. The night marshal asked the appellant, “What is going on down here?” and the appellant replied: “I tried to shoot his damn eyes out — I don’t know whether I did or not.”
O. C. Smith himself testified that when the appellant called him he went to the door, but did not see the appellant immediately; that he then looked northwardly and saw the appellant standing by a chinaberry tree, about 15 feet from the porch; that the appellant shot him while he was standing in the door that opened on the porch; and that at the time he was shot he had one hand on the screen and the other hand on the door facing; that he had no weapon of any kind in his possession. Smith stated that he was carried to the doctor soon after he was shot, and then to the hospital at Jackson, where he was a patient for six weeks. On cross-examination he denied that he had tried to get Essie Mae Bland, the appellant’s wife, to go away with him while he was at her house during the forenoon of the day of the shooting. He admitted that he had struck Essie Mae on the head with a pitcher a few days before the shooting and that sometime before that he had broken her arm; but he claimed that Essie Mae had cursed him when he broke her arm.
Ophelia Epting testified that her house was located about 40 feet from Lilla Capíes’ house, and that she saw the , appellant in the edge of her yard just before the shooting occurred; that the appellant had a gun; and that she begged him not to go over to O. C. ’s house. She stated that the appellant said to her, “’While I got this gun I ought to get rid of the whole push.” She stated that the appellant called O. C. from the coimer of the yard, and that when O. C. came to the door the appellant raised his gun and shot him. Mary Johnson, who lived across the road from Lilla Capíes’ house, testified that she saw the shooting, and her testimony corroborated the testimony of Lilla Capíes and Mary Johnson.
Several witnesses were called to testify for the appellant. Reuben Jennings testified that O. C. Smith came
Eddie Smith, who was a nephew of the appellant, testified that he was at the appellant’s house about 12:00 or 1:00 o ’clock on the day of the shooting, and that he went with the appellant to Ophelia Epting’s house; that the appellant called O. C. from the corner of the yard, and that O. C. came out on the porch and cursed the appellant and said: “If you raise your hand, I will shoot your g......d.........eyes out,” and put his hand in his bosom; and that the appellant shot him. The witness stated that O. C. came out with a pistol, and that after the appellant shot him O. C. ran back into the house. Henry
The appellant, testifying in his own behalf, said that O. C. had been giving him trouble about his wife; that he tried to talk to O. C., and that O. C. threatened to cut his head off; that O. O. had broken his wife’s arm, while the appellant was away from home; and that on another occasion O. O. had struck his wife on the head with a stick of stovewood; that on Thursday before the shooting occurred O. C. had struck his wife with a water pitcher, while the appellant was at the trade school. The appellant testified further that during the morning of the day of the shooting the appellant got a truck for the purpose of hauling a load of pine, and that while he was away from home O. C. came to his house again; that when he heard about it after he had returned to his home, he picked up his gun and went over to O. C. ’s house and told him that he wanted to talk to him; that O. C. came to the side of the porch and said, “I ain’t got any d......... talk for you,” and put his hand in his bosom; and that the appellant shot him.
On cross-examination the appellant admitted that after he came back to the house about noon on the day of the shooting he talked to his wife, and got his gun and three shells and went across to Ophelia’s yard. He denied that Ophelia tried to stop him, and said that he didn’t see her. He said that he went to O. C.’s house to try to get him to agree to stay away from his house.
The appellant’s attorney argues two points as grounds for reversal on this appeal, (1) that the lower court erred in granting the instruction for the State, and (2) that the evidence was insufficient to support the finding of the jury that the appellant’s purpose was to kill and murder O. O. Smith.
But there is no merit in this contention for two reasons: (1) That the issue presented to the jury by the conflicting testimony was whether the appellant shot O. C. Smith with intent to kill and murder, as testified to by the State witnesses, or in necessary self-defense, as testified to by the appellant and his two nephews, Eddie Smith and Henry Lee Smith; and (2) that no request was made by either party for an instruction embodying the theory of simple assault.
There is no evidence in the record to support the contention made by the appellant in his brief that the jury would have been warranted in finding the appellant guilty of a simple assault only. According to the testimony of the -State witnesses the appellant armed himself with a single barrel shotgun and went to the house occupied by O. C. Smith, called O. C. Smith out of the house and deliberately shot him, at a time when the appellant was in no danger,. real or apparent, of losing his life or suffering great bodily harm at the hands of O. C. Smith. According to the testimony of the appellant and his two nephews, the appellant shot O. C. Smith after O. C. Smith had cursed the appellant and had put his hand in his bosom, as if he were about to draw a deadly weapon. The appellant himself requested, and the court granted to him, an instruction
Nor is there any merit in the appellant’s contention that the evidence was insufficient to support the finding of the jury that the appellant’s purpose was to kill and murder. The testimony of the State witnesses, which the jurors accepted, was sufficient to support the verdict. The circumstances under which the assault was made, as testified to by the State witnesses, the use of the deadly weapon, and the account of the shooting which the appellant himself gave to the officer, constituted sufficient proof of the appellant’s intent to kill.
We find no error in the record and the judgment of the lower court is affirmed.
Affirmed.
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