156 Ind. 435 | Ind. | 1901
The information upon which appellant was tried and convicted contains three counts. By the first and second appellant is charged, together with two other parties, Stanton Galbreath and Emory Bennett, with having committed an assault and battery upon William Rafter, with the felonious intent to commit murder in the first degree. ■ The third count charges him and four other persons, namely, Galbreath, Bennett j Wagoner, and Dudley, with unlawfully, knowiiigly, and .feloniously conspiring, uniting, and confederating together and agreeing with each other for the object and purpose and with the unlawful and felonious' intent unlawfully, feloniously, wilfully, purposely, and with ■ premeditated malice, to' kill and murder said Rafter, etc. The first and second counts of the information are based on §1982 Burns 1894, §1909 ITorner 1897, which reads, as folloivs: “Whoever perpetrates an assault or an assault and battery upon any human being, with intent to commit, a felony, shall, upon conviction thereof, be imprisoned in the state-prison not more than fourteen years nor less than two-years, and be fined not exceeding $2,000 dollars.” -The third count is based on §2260 Burns 1894, §2139 Horner
Upon appellant’s motion he was tried separately and the case against him was submitted to a jury for trial upon the several counts contained in the information and a verdict was returned finding appellant’guilty of the conspiracy as charged in the tliird 'count of the information, and over his motion for a new trialhe was sentenced by the court upon the verdict, of the jury to be imprisoned in the state’s prison for,an indeterminate,period of not less than two years nor more than fourteen years. From this.judgment he appeals, and. under his assignment; of .errors his counsel contend that the- trial court .erred in giving certain instructions to. the'jury and that .the. verdict is not sustained by th.e evidence. . The follpwing.may- be said to be an epitome of the evidence: On the night of March 1.0, 1900, appellant, John ■ Booher, -Stanton.Galbreath, Emory Bennett, Ray Wagoner, Lorenzo Dudley, and William Rafter, the prosecuting wit-, ness, .togeth'er path others, were in Hammer’s, saloon, in the town of Rierce.ton, Kosciusko county, Indiana. There is no evidence to show that ,the meeting of these parties was arranged by, any of them, but it appears that they came together casually at the, saloon in,question. . Rafter, it seems, had been at Warsa,w during the day, and had been drinking prior, to .his coming to Ilammer’s saloon., A short time after h.e came into the,saloon.a controversy seems to have arisen between him and Ray Wagoner in regard to a former difficulty or.fight which occurred.between Rafter and another .party.' Rafter claimed that he was drunk at the time.
The court on its own motion gave to the jury upon'the ■question of appellant’s intoxication the following instruction, which was the only one given upon that feature of the case: “Voluntary intoxication will not excuse crime. If the defendant Booher was drunk, it was his own fault, and he can not claim any immunity by reason of his intoxication. -It was his duty to keep sober, and if he voluntarily permittéd himself to become intoxicated, and while so intoxicated he committed the crime charged in any form, lie- is guilty, and should be punished precisely the same as though he had been sober. • It is not the law that a man may voluntarily become intoxicated, and commit crime, and e'seape punishment by reason of such intoxication, but upon the' other hand it is the law that he cannot use hi's own voluntary intoxication to escape the consequences of his acts while so intoxicated.” Counsel for appellant conten'd that the court in giving this charge clearly erred, to the prejudice of the accused. They concede that while voluntary intoxication 'is no excuse for the commission of a crime, nevertheless they insist that it may be considered where the essetice of the crime depends upon the intent with which the act is done, or where an essential element of the crime consists in doing an unlawful act with deliberation and premeditated' purpose. Hndér such circumstances it is insisted that' the mental condition of the accused, whether occasioned by voluntary intoxication or otherwise, is an important factor to be considered by the court or jury trying the case.
'The contention of appellant’s counsel upon'the question involved is supported by the decision of this court in Aszman
In Smurr v. State, 88 Ind. 504, the offense charged'was murder in the-first degree. . An'instruction which advised the jury that .“Voluntary intoxication '-is no exeusé'ffor crime as'long as' the offender is capable of conceiving' an intelligent design.” was approved, as • a correct • expression 'of the law. "
' In the case of Crosby v. People, 137 Ill. 325, 27 N. E. 49, the defendant was indicted for an aSsault with intent to murder. The question arose in -regard to his intoxication -at ■ the time of the alleged assault. The trial court in its charge to'the jurors instructed them, in effect, that voluntary "drunkenness was no excuse for the commission of any crime br -misdemeanor, and' that- 'this ruling applied although the intoxication was so extreme as to maké the' accused unconscious of what he was'doing. On appeal the 'supreme court ■ held that the instruction as applied to that case was erroneous. -After citing authorities to show that under the rule asserted at common law voluntary drunkenness- was no excuse or extenuation for crime eommittéd under its Influence, and that the same rule prevailed-Under the statutes’ ofTlli- ' nois, it is sáid:' ‘Git will be observed that all the cases'hold, as our'statute provides,1 that-drunkenness is not' an excuse for crime, and- yet the uniform holding is,' that where 'a ' particular intent is charged, and such' intent-forms the gist 'of tire offense, as contradistinguished from the1 intent 'necessarily entering into every crime, — as, where • one ‘crime is thereby aggravated into a higher -crime,'or a'misdemeanor 'enlarged into’ a' felony,- — any-cause which deprives'the'defendant of- the1 mental capacity'to1 form such 'an iiatént Will be-a defense to the graver'crime.*■' Drunkenness was, therefore, at common law, as under-our own 'statute* no excuse for crime, but where the nature and essence" of" the offense is, by law, made to depend upon the state and; condi- ■ tion of the mind of the-accused at the time,’and-with refer
- In State v. Garvey, 11 Minn. 154, the defendant was indicted for an assault with an intent to -do great bodily harm, under a statute which provided that “If any person being armed with a dangerous weapon shall assault another with intent to do great bodily harm, he shall be punished,” etc. The intoxication of the accused was involved, and the supreme court in -reviewing the ruling of the lower court upon that feature of the cáse, said: “It does, not 'appear that Garvey became intoxicated with a view to the commission of the crime, or that before his- intoxication he had any. intention of committing such crime. -The existence or nonexistence of the malicious and felonious intent charged was the principal question tó be passed upon by the jury. If Garvey was so drunk as ‘not to Jcnoiv what he ivas doing/ then he had no intention; he was incapable of forihing any intention, and any evidence- showing this fact should have been admitted by the court.” - •
In Mooney v. State, 33 Ala. 419, the charge was assault with intent to commit murder. • The court in that appeal, after holding that the specific intent-to commit murder as chargéd was an essential ingredient of the crime, 'and that such-intent must be proved as charged, said.: “Drunkenness certainly does not excuse or palliate any offense. But it may produce a state of mind, in which the ac’custed would'be totally incapable of entertaining or' forming the positive
In Whitten v. State, 115 Ala. 72, 22 South. 483, the defendant was indicted and convicted for an assault with intent forcibly to ravish. The trial court refused to charge that if the jury had a reasonable doubt arising out of the ■evidence as to whether the accused was sufficiently' sober to form the specific intent to ravish, then the jury could’ not find him guilty of an' assault with such an intent; The court- in that appeal upon the question said:' '“We are of opinion-the charge should-have been-given.- In order to convict under the statute for an assault with intent to ravish, .it is necessary to satisfy the jury beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant entertained the specific intent charged and made the assault to accomplish the specific purpose. Mere drunkenness -does not excuse or palliate an offense, but it may produce a state of‘mind, which'incapacitates the party from forming or entertaining a specific intent. -If the mental condition is such -that a specific intent can not be formed, whether this condition -is caused by drunkenness or otherwise, a party can not be said to have-committed" an of-fense, a necessary element of which is, that it be done’with a specific intent. * * * The condition of the defendant’s mind,- arising from -his voluntary drunkenness, was no ex-cuse for the assault,-an offense included in that-charge. It can only be considered upon the question of his guilt of the
In Chrisman v. State, 54 Ark. 283, 15 S. W. 889, the defendant was also convicted of an asáault:with intent to murder. The 'court in that appeal; upon the question of his intoxication, said: “But. as the case inuSt be remanded, we think it proper to -say that although voluntary drunkenness cannot,1 as the1 jury were told.by the court, excuse the commission of a criminal act; yet, where a -person is accused of á crime such as cán be committed.only by-doing a particular thing with a specific intent, it may be shown that at the time -of doing the thing charged the accused was so drunk that--he could not have entertained the intent necessary to constitute the'-offense.” ' ■ '
In Reagan v. State, 28 Tex. Civ. App. 227, 12 S. W. 601, the accused- was charged with having perpetrated an- assault with intent to commit rape; It was held in that .appeal that evidence, which tended to show- that when the accused made the atteinpt he was excessively drunk, fairly raised the question- of his mental capacity to conceive the criminal intent, and demanded of the trial -court a' charge to 'the effect that in determining whether he had the' specific intent to rape' at the time 'he made the attempt the jury should take into consideration - t-he' evidence of his. drunkenness, and his Consequent mental capacity to form such intent. The court in conclusion -said: “Appellant is not to be held responsible for the intent if he was too drunk for -a conscious exercise of the will to the particular end;- or, in-other words, too drunk to entertain the'intent, and did dot'entertain itin'faet. If he did- .in fact entertain' it, though but for the intoxication he would not hávé done so,' hé is'responsible for the intent as well as-for t'he acts.”
In Roberts v. People, 19 Mich. 401, the defendant was charged with-an ássault with intent to commit murder. ■ The trial court instructed the jury to the effect that his volun
In Warner v. State, 56 N. J. L. 686, 29 Atl. 505, the defendant was convicted in the lower court of.murder in,the first degree. . Upon appeal,, in considering. the question of intent or design' to kill involved under, the evidence in that case, the court said: . “Design to kill was1 a fact. A-reasonable doubt of the existence of that fact might spring out .of - the drunkenness..of defendant,, or out- of any other circumstance or combination of drunkenness with, other eircum-, stances.. * . * * , The general proposition is,that drunkenness is no excuse for crime. ' ■ The-reasoning -upon which, • in those states in which murder is distinguished by degrees, drunkenness is permitted to modify the degree of the crime, rests upon, one- requirement essential to constitute murder, in the first degree. This rquirement is the existence, of actual, specific malice — of an . actual intent to take life.. • Withoutthis there is no crime in that.degr.ee.' Any condition of fact, whether drunkenness or, .other circumstance*, which shows the non-existence of this kind of actual malice, is relevant, not as an excuse for crime, but as showing that ■ no.statutory crime at all of the degree named was committed. *... * * The exceptional immunity extended to the drunkard is limited to .those, instances where, the crime, involves a.
In 1 Bishop’s New Crim. Law, §413, the author says: ■ “An indictable -attempt is committed- only when the intent-• is specific; namely, to do the particular thing which constitutes the substantive'crime. If, therefore, one- is--too-drunk t-o entertain such specific intent,- he can not become; guilty of the offense -of attempt -however culpable iñ a gen- ■ eral way-he may be for his drunkenness.” - * '
Other authorities of like import might be cited in support of the doctrine for which appellant contends-; those mentioned will suffice to disclose for what purpose the intoxication of the defendant on trial upon a criminal charge-which involves a- specific, actual,-intent, may be admitted: in evidence and considered in' h-is behalf. The intoxication of an ■ accused person, under- such cases, is not admissible, upon the ground that it of itself excuses or palliates-the crime, but is admitted and considered only for- the purpose of ascer- - taining-the condition of the -mind of the accused,- in order to' '• determine whether he was incapable- of * entertaining the-specific intent charged,, where such -intent, under the law, - is an-essential ingredient of the particular crime alleged to have been committed; hence, where a homicide -has been- • charged to- have been committed with- premeditated, or deliberate intent, the drunkenness of the defendant may be considered as tending to show, under all the.circumstances - in the case, that-the less, and not the greater, homicide was committed.- In all criminal- cases where the intent of the accused is an essential'element, such intent becomes a question o'f fact to be determined-by the jury or court trying the case upon a consideration of all the evidence. In-fact the rule'seems to be universally asserted by the authorities, that ■ in all prosecutions for an assault -with intent to kill, the intoxication of the defendant is admissible in evidence, and
It was also, within the province of the. jury upon■ either: the first or second count, if warranted by th,e evidence, to have acquitted, appellant -of the felonious intent and -com v-icted. him of. assault and battery only. Gillespie v. State, 9 Ind. 380; Behymer v. State, supra; State v. Hattabough, 66 Ind. 223; §1904 Burns 1894.
Applying the principle- so fully, and generally, supported by the authorities to .which .we • have. referred, it becomes manifest that the, intoxication-pf appellant, which was ad-' mitted- in evidence, ought to have been considered, by. the jury for the purpose of rebutting the felonious intent to kill and murder the prosecuting witness, with which, as charged . under the first and second counts,-he committed the assault and battery, and, under the third count, with which, he en