Smith v. Commonwealth
Smith v. Commonwealth
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The errors assigned are: 1. That the trial court erred in not sustaining the demurrer to the indictment. 2. That the trial court erred in giving six instructions asked for by the Commonwealth and objected to by defendant. 3. That the trial court- erred in refusing an instruction offered by defendant, and 4. That the trial court erred in refusing to set aside the verdict of the jury as being contrary to the law and the evidence.
1. The indictment consisted of two counts. Omitting the formal parts, the first count charged that the accused “did unlawfully, feloniously, wilfully, maliciously, deliberately and of his malice aforethought make an assault in and upon the body of one C. C. Loy, and that the said S. I. Smith unlawfully, feloniously, wilfully, maliciously, deliberately and of his malice aforethought did attempt to commit the crime of murder, by then and there with a pistol then and there charged and loaded with gunpowder and leaden bullets, which said pistol, he, the said S. I. Smith, in his hand, then and there had and held, then and there feloniously, wilfully, deliberately, and of his malice aforethought, did discharge and shoot off, at and towards the said C. C. Loy, he the said C. C. Loy, at the time of the said shooting being close enough to the said S. I. Smith to be within carrying distance, of said pistol.
“And so the jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present that the said S. I. Smith, in
. Omitting the formal parts, the second count charged that the accused “did feloniously attempt to commit the crime of murder by then and there, with a pistol, then and there charged and loaded with gunpowder and leaden bullets, which said pistol, he the said S. I. Smith in his hand then and there held, then and there feloniously, wilfully and» of his malice aforethought, did discharge and shoot off, at and towards one C. C. Loy, he the said S. I. Smith, at the time of said shooting being close enough to the said C. C. Loy to be within carrying distance of said pistol, * *
It is claimed that the indictment is bad .because it did not charge the intent with which .the acts alleged in the indictment were committed by the accused.
There is no merit in this assignment.
The question was disposed of adversely to the contention of defendant in Broaddus v. Commonwealth, 126 Va. 733, 740, 745, 101 S. E. 321. See also State v. Hager, 50 W. Va. 370, 371-2, 40 S. E. 393, and the authorities cited.
It is also claimed that the indictment is defective because it does not allege that Loy was seen, or could be seen, by the accused, or was in a position that the bullet could hit him at the time the pistol was fired. This objection is clearly without merit.
The indictment charged that the accused “deliberately and of his malice aforethought did discharge and shoot off, at and towards the said C. C. Loy, the said pistol, the said C. C. Loy, at the time of the said shooting being close enough to the said S. I. Smith to be within carrying distance of said pistol.”
“(See Commonwealth’s evidence hereto attached as a part of this bill of exceptions No. 1.)
“And the defendant introduced the following evidence:
“(See defendant’s evidence hereto attached as a part of this bill of exceptions No. 1.)
“Whereupon, counsel for the Commonwealth moved the court to instruct the jury as follows: That is to say: (See instructions Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, given by the Commonwealth,, in the transcript of the record, which is hereby made a part of the bill of exceptions No. 1.) And the accused moved the court to reject said instructions to the jury, whereupon, the court overruled the objection of the accused to said instructions, to which opinion of the court overruling said objection, the accused, by his counsel, excepted and tenders this his bill of exceptions No. 1, and which he prays may be signed, sealed and made a part of the record in this cause, and the same is accordingly done this 23rd day of November, 1925.”
There appear in the record two sets of instructions, thirteen in all, with no certificate of the clerk .or judge that they were the instructions or all of the instructions given in the case. They are numbered from 1 to 6 and from 1 to 7, inclusive, and the bill of exceptions does not identify which set is excepted to or objected to.
When all the instructions given in a case are not made a part of the record this eourt will not consider alleged errors in giving or refusing instructions. Harris v. Com., 133 Va. 700, 112 S. E. 753; Parker v. Com., 135 Va. 625, 115 S. E. 566.
The instant case is distinguished from Barnard v. Com., 134 Va. 613, in that there were three skeleton bills of exceptions in that case numbered 8, 9, and 10, which sought to make instructions a part of the record. Bill of exceptions No. 8 certified the instructions numbered from one to twelve, inclusive, as a part thereof by reference to the numbers. Bill of exception No. 9 made certain other instructions numbered either by letters or figures a part thereof by reference, while bill of exceptions No. 10 certified that the instructions mentioned as given on motion of the Commonwealth or the accused “were all of the instructions that were given in the case, and the court doth so certify.”
This court said of these bills of exceptions: “* * * While it does not affirmatively appear that these
While we conclude that the objection to the instructions cannot be considered by this court, a perusal of those appearing in the record satisfies us that they were applicable to the case at bar and not subject to the objections raised to them.
3. The third assignment of error, that the court erred in refusing to give an instruction asked for by defendant, fails for the reason that the record nowhere shows whether the same point was covered by other instruction, nor does it show all the instructions given in the casé. In Harris v. Com., supra, it is said: “The party asking a reversal for refusal to give an instruction must show by the record that there was no justification for refusing to give it, which he may do by bringing up all the instructions, or by having the court certify that the point was not covered by any other instruction. Teter v. Ins. Co., 74 W. Va. 344, 82 S. E. 40.”
4. This assignment requires'a statement of the pertinent facts established by the evidence. It appears from the testimony in the case that C. C. Loy, his wife and two children, moved to Crewe in February, 1924. When Loy and his family first moved to Crewe, the accused’s wife was living, but she died sometime prior to the commission of the crime charged in the indictment. Sometime after moving to Crewe, Loy observed what appeared to him to be a relationship between the accused and his (Loy’s) wife that aroused his suspicions. The accused was warned by Loy but Loy’s suspicions remained. The accused worked' in the day and Loy worked at night. On the
The defense made by the accused was that he had gone to the prosecutor’s house in answer to a note written by .the prosecutor’s wife, asking him to come there so that she could communicate to him certain threats made by the prosecutor against the accused; that while there he was surprised by the prosecutor; that at the request of Mrs. Loy he hid in the closet and that, when he tried to escape, in -some way his pistol was fired accidentally without his knowing how it was done, but that he did not intend to shoot at the prosecutor, and that the last shot which passed near defendant’s head struck the stairway first and was accidentally deflected in the direction of Loy.
The chief contention of defendant is that no intent is shown on his part to kill, and he bases this upon what he declares.is an undisputed fact that at no time did he shoot at or even in the direction of Loy.
We think, however, that if the jury believed the facts as narrated above, they were sufficient to justify the conviction of the accused of an attempt to commit murder.
Under the circumstances of this case we think the jury had a right to find the verdict they did find, even if the defendant did not See Loy and therefore did not fire directly at him, if they believed, as they had a right to believe, from the evidence, he had a general idea where Loy was and fired where he thought he was.
In People v. Lee Kong, 95 Cal. 666, 30 page 800, 17 L. R. A. 626, 29 Am. St. Rep. 165, the court held that a person has the present ability to accomplish murder intended when he has a loaded pistol, and the
The court said (pages 670-1 [30 page 801]): “In this case the appellant had the present ability to inflict the injury. He knew the officer was upon the roof, and knowing that fact he fired through the roof with the full determination of killing him. The fact that he was mistaken in judgment as to the exact spot where his intended victim was located is immaterial. That the shot did not fulfill the mission intended was not attributable to forbearance or kindness of heart upon the defendant’s part; neither did the officer escape by reason of the fact, of his being so far distant that the deadly missile could do him no harm. He was sufficiently near to be killed from a bullet from the pistol, and his antagonist fired with the intent of killing him. Appellant’s mistake as to the policeman’s exact location upon the roof affords no excuse for his act, and causes the act to be no less an assault. These acts disclose an assault to murder as fully as though a person should fire into a house with the intention of killing the occupant, who fortunately escaped the range of the bullet. (See Cowley v. State, 10 Lea [Tenn.], 282). The fact that the shots were directed' indiscriminately into the house rather than that the intended murderer calculated that the occupant was located at a particular spot, and then trained his fire to that point, could not affect the question. The assault would be complete and entire in either case. If a man intending murder, being in darkness and guided by sound only, should fire, and the bullet should pierce the spot where the party was supposed to be, but by a mistake in hearing the in
See also Lee v. Commonwealth, 144 Va. 594, 131 S. E. 212.
In Walker v. Commonwealth, 132 Va. 595, 597, 110 S. E. 253, 254, this court said: “Under Code 1919, section 6363, this court is inhibited from setting aside a Verdict approved by the trial court unless it appears from the evidence that such judgment is plainly wrong and without evidence to support it. To reverse these convictions would be to disregard this statute.”
Upon the whole ease we see no error in the judgment complained of, and we are of opinion to affirm it:
Affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting:
I cannot coneur in the opinion of the majority.
W. I. Smith was convicted of an attempt to murder C. C. Loy. The only evidence of any attempt on tho part of Smith to kill Loy is the testimony of Loy, when, he says he “turned round like this * * and shot-again, and it turned direct, right on me. So I fell back against the wall and said: ‘Oh, Lord, I am shot.’ ”
This statement is contradicted by the physical facts.
In my view of the case, the Commonwealth has failed to prove that Smith shot at or towards Loy, or that he had any desire or intention to kill him.
I think the judgment should be reversed and a new trial awarded. •
Reference
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- S. I. Smith v. Commonwealth
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