Rimby v. State
Rimby v. State
Opinion of the Court
An information was filed in the district court for Madison county charging Jess Rimby, plaintiff in error, whom,
The person, Anna Rimby, upon whom defendant is alleged to have committed the assault, was his wife, who was. the only witness that testified to the alleged facts of the assault, although she was supported by other witnesses, who detailed facts and circumstances, which tended in some respects to strengthen and support her version of the affair. Briefly stated, the substance of her testimony is that, owing to some differences between them, she and defendant were not living together; that she had a room in an upper story of a building in Norfolk, the lower story being occupied by a saloon. She was working in a restaurant as table waiter, and on her return to her room, after darkness had set in, she seated herself upon a trunk near the foot of her bed in the room, when defendant crawled, out from under the bed, saying, “I have you now,” struck her, knocking her down, and began to beat her. It being dark in her room, she could not see if he used any weapon, but a rather deep gash was cut in her temple, which required the uáe of stitches to close it up. During the time of the assault she screamed and called for “help,” when two men — bartenders in the saloon below — ran up to her room, and as they entered defendant made his escape through a window, lighting upon a roof of an adjoining-building. The two men, who were employed in the saloon, testified that they heard a noise in the room above and some one screaming and crying for help, when they ran up to Mrs. Rimby’s room, opened the door, and met her in the act of falling, her face bloody, and a deep cut or
Defendant admitted being in the room of his wife on the occasion referred to, but denied being under the bed; •that he sat upon the foot of the bed, and was sitting there when his wife came to the room. He testified that he did not strike her at all, but that she caught her foot on a rug and fell, striking her head on the corner of the trunk; that as soon as she saw him she started' to run, crying “Help!” and “Murder!” He admitted that he made his ■escape from her room through a window, as stated by his wife and the two witnesses who came into the room, but gave as his reason for so doing that he knew she was mad and going to have him arrested, “as she had threatened to ■before.”
This conflict in the evidence, created by the testimony of the defendant, presented to the jury the question as to which should be believed. They found the testimony of Mrs. Rimby to be true, and with that the court could not interfere. Defendant’s conduct and statements added ■strongly to her version of the affair. Considering her testimony to be true, it presented an aggravated case of assault and battery, or an assault with felonious intent. Of this, the jury were the judges, and we cannot say that the verdict is not sustained by sufficient evidence, as claimed by defendant’s counsel.
Finding no error in the record, the judgment of the district court is
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jess Rimby v. State of Nebraska
- Status
- Published