State v. Johnson
State v. Johnson
Opinion of the Court
On the night of June 7, 1906, in his room at the Rainier hotel, in Spokane, the defendant stabbed one Tuttle with a knife, inflicting injuries from which the latter died a few days thereafter. Defendant was tried upon an information charging murder in the second degree, and convicted of manslaughter. Prom a judgment and sentence thereupon, he appeals to this court.
There was some evidence that decedent had been drinking, although no showing as to what extent, and it appeared that he was inclined to be cross and irritable when under the influence of liquor. The cross-examination and the statements theretofore made by defendant upon the preliminary examination tended to show that the defendant was irritated and angry, either by being disturbed or at the attentions being paid by the decedent to the chambermaid, or by both; that defendant could have shut the door and kept the decedent from coming in; that the latter was a much smaller man physically than the defendant, and was entirely unarmed and in his stocking feet; that defendant had no fear for his life; that he did not make proper effort to avoid the difficulty; that the use of the knife was unnecessary.
The appellant assigns seven errors. The first, second, third, and seventh have to do with the sufficiency of the evidence. The fourth and fifth refer to the matter of instructions. The sixth alleges error in the admission of evidence. We will consider these in the inverse order. The sixth assignment is indefinite and uncertain. No reference is made to any particular ruling of the court and no argument is made upon this assignment. Neither is there any argument made as to the fourth and fifth assignments, and we do riot think they are well taken. The instructions given by the tidal court appear to have been fully as favorable as defendant was entitled to. The instructions numbered 5 and 12, requested by the defendant and refused by the court, are in themselves faulty, inapplicable, or have to do with subject-matters which are fully and properly covered by the instructions given by the court.
We come now to the main question in the case, which is as to the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict and judgment. It was admitted on the part of defendant in the
The jury had a right to take into consideration the size of the men respectively, the fact and manner of defendant first accosting decedent, the fact that the decedent was unarmed, the opportunity of defendant to close and lock his door, his apparent ability to have resisted the assault of decedent without the use of a knife, the character of the conversation between the two men, the credibility of defendant’s testimony, the question of his good faith in using the knife, the character of the assault upon and threatened danger to defendant, the reasonableness under all the circumstances of defendant’s apprehension of serious bodily injury; and from all of these things, and all other matters shown by the evidence and the conditions and circumstances surrounding the
The judgment is affirmed.
Hadley, C. J., Dunbar, Rudkin, Crow, Fullerton, and Mount, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The State of Washington v. Thomas C. Johnson
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Appeal—Assignment of Eerobs. A general assignment of error as to the admission of evidence is insufficient, where no reference is made to any particular evidence and no argument made thereon. Trial—Instbuctions—Requests. Requested instructions are properly refused, if faulty, inapplicable, or covered by the general charge. Homicide—Manslaughter—Self-Defense—Justification for Use of Weapon—Evidence—Sufficiency. The evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction for manslaughter, where it appears from the testimony of the defendant that he was attacked by the deceased, who was unarmed and a much smaller man than himself, that he might have avoided the attack after the altercation commenced by shutting a door and keeping deceased out of his room, which he failed to do, but admitted him to the room, and in the encounter that ensued used an open knife upon the deceased, stabbing him while pushing him out of the room; whether defendant was justified in using a knife being a question for the jury.