Opinion op the Court by
Affirming.
The appellant, Ernest Elmendorf, was convicted in the McCracken circuit court, of the crime of wilful murder, and Ms penalty fixed at imprisonment during his lifetime. The motion made by him for a new trial having been overruled by the circuit court, he has appealed to
Evidence was heard to the effect, that between 10:35 p. m. and 10:40 p. m., the appellant, Elmendorf, came into the front of the saloon, and there appeared to be talking over the telephone, which was there, and inquired of Eedman what had happened, and when told that Eedman hacl been robbed and Iseman killed, he did not go back to or make any inquiry in regard to Iseman, although he was an acquaintance, but went immediately out of the saloon. On the morning of the day following, Malone was summoned by the police to the city hall to be interviewed by the chief of police. He went to the city hall, but the chief of police-not being there, he returned to the saloon or to his home. He was then arrested upon suspicion of having knowledge of the crime or of some connection with it and confined in jail. Upon the advice of his nephew and his attorney, he then, as he claims, revealed his knowledge of the perpetration
The indictment contains four counts. The first count charges that the appellant, together with other persons, whose names are to the grand jury unknown, killed Iseman. The second count charges that the killing was done by a person whose name is to the grand jury unknown, and that the appellant was an accessory before the fact to the crime. The third count charges the actual killing of Iseman to have been done by a person to the grand jury unknown, and that appellant was an aider and abettor of such unknown person in the commission of the crime. The fourth count charges that appellant conspired with another person or persons, whose, name or names are to the grand jury unknown, to kill and murder Iseman, and that in pursuance and furtherance of the conspiracy, Iseman was killed by one of said persons. To this indictment the appellant plead not guilty.
The instructions to the jury related to the guilt of the appellant, as charged in the first and third connts of the indictment, only. The instructions, in substance, directed the jury, that if it should believe from the evh dence, to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt that th<v appellant, or he together with another person or persons, whose names were unknown, did feloniously, wilfully, and with malice aforethought kill Iseman by shooting him in the manner described in the indictment, and by reason of which he immediately died; or if it should believe from the evidence, to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt, that a person, whose name was unknown, feloniously, wilfully, and with malice aforethought, shotIseman, with etc., from which he immediately died, and believed from the evidence, to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt, that the appellant was then and there actually or constructively present, feloniously and with malice aforethought, aiding, abetting, and assisting such other person in the shooting and killing of Iseman, to find him guilty.
It will be observed that the instruction permitted appellant to be convicted, only, in the event that he did the killing either alone or with the assistance of others, or in the event that some other person actually did the killing and appellant was an aider and abettor of such person in so doing.
The grounds upon which a reversal of the judgment is now sought are:
(1) The court erred to the prejudice of appellant in excluding certain things, alleged to be evidence, and in permitting incompetent and irrelevant matters to jbe given in evidence before the jury.
(2) The court erred to the prejudice of appellant in instructing the jury, and in failing to give certain instructions to the jury.
(3) The court erred to the prejudice of appellant in overruling his motion for a new trial.
For the purpose of determining the soundness of the contentions of appellant it is necessary to set out in detail the statements made by certain witnesses, upon whose testimony depends the rulings sought to be invoked.
The witness, "William Malone, in substance, testified that he had a personal acquaintance with the appellant, which began about the month of August, 1915, but had known him by sight for some years theretofore; that Harry Keiley conducted a saloon in the room occupied by Peters as a saloon for some time previous and up to about the first of January, 1916; that he, witness, ■had a lunch stand in the room while Keiley had the saloon there, and that appellant was about and in and out of the saloon nearly every day while Keiley was engaged in the business there; that about the month of December, 1915, a robbery was committed on Broadway and appellant was arrested on account of it; that appellant thereafter said to him, at his lunch stand, that A1 Red-man was the cause of his arrest, and that he would get even with him, if it took five years in which to do it; that he was agoing some time to “hold up” Redman, and take his money and make him give up and take his pistol; that after Keiley quit the saloon business, that witness continued' to occupy the rooms in the rear of the restaurant, and on the other side of the alley from the saloon; that Peters, with A1 Redman as his bartender, opened a saloon in the place formerly occupied
Jennie Dobbs, in substance, stated, that about ten o’clock p. m., she was on Kentucky avenue, and heard a pistol discharged and immediately thereafter saw three men coming from the side door of the saloon into the alley and run away.
Joe Lambert saw two men, about 10:30 p. m., come out from the old skating rink place upon Broadway, between 10th and 11th streets, go up Broadway and turn down 9th street, and when they got to Kentucky avenue, one of them turned down the avenue toward the Peter’s saloon, and the other crossed over the avenue, and when witness came near him, he left the sidewalk and went out into the street. The latter man resembled appellant in size and height.
Horace English and Jim Poore testified that previous to the killing they saw appellant with a No. 45 Colts pistol.
Appellant’s defense was an alibi. He claimed that he left Malone’s room ten minutes before six o’clock, and went to the Klondyke saloon, kept by Clem Franciola; that he left there five minutes before eight o’clock and went to the city hall, at the request of Thad Terrill, the night captain of the police; that he left the city hall about half past eight o’clock, and went to Jean Thompson’s saloon, where he remained playing cards, and looking at others play until about eleven o’clock, when a negro came in and told them of the tragedy at Peter’s saloon; that he called Terrill on the telephone and learned from him of the murder of Iseman; that Terrill requested him to get out and assist in finding the perpetrator of the deed; that he went from there to Peter’s saloon and from there to Mitchell’s saloon, where he put his watch' in pledge for fifty cents; then took a taxicab for the Union railroad station and inquired about the outgoing trains, and then went home, where he arrived after midnight, and was at Malone’s rooms the next morning at 9:30 o’clock. In this statement and the details of it he was more or less corroborated by several witnesses. The appellant, also, attempted to show by proof that one Kistener was the party who robbed Bedman and killed Iseman. On the
In the examination of Malone he was asked and permitted to state, without objection from the appellant, that he had seen the appellant and Kistener in company with each other previous to the death of Iseman; that he had seen them come in to Kelley’s saloon together. Before closing its evidence in chief, the attorney for the Commonwealth introduced witnesses, who testified without objection from appellant, that Kistener was at the home of his mother from eight o’clock p. m. upon the night that Iseman was killed until the next morning. The appellant introduced witnesses, who testified that the witnesses, who proved that Kistener was at his mother’s home when Iseman was killed, had made statements immediately after the occurrence, that Kistener came to his mother’s home at some time during the night, but that they did not know when. When the appellant was testifying in chief, he testified that he was not acquainted with Iseman; that he had never seen him; that he was never in his company at any time, and had never heard of him until after his death.
(1) Upon the trial, Redman testified that the man who killed Iseman had fingers, which were one-fourth of an inch greater in length than his, Redman’s, fingers. The attorney for appellant then requested Redman to extend his hand upon a sheet of paper, and then with a
(2) Complaint is, also, made, that after the Commonwealth’s Attorney had, while introducing the evidence in chief for the state, offered witnesses who gave testimony to the effect that upon the night upon which Iseman was killed, that Kistener was at his mother’s home, and therefore could not have been the slayer of Iseman, and then after the testimony of appellant, in chief, had been heard, that the Commonwealth’s Attorney was permitted to introduce Stevens, Cooper and Seay, each of whom testified to having seen appellant and Kistener in conversation with each other previous to the death of Iseman. If it had been attempted for the Commonwealth to show that Kistener was the actual slayer of Iseman, then it seems that the evidence of Stevens, Cooper and Seay would have been competent, as tending to prove that appellant was an aider and abettor of him in the crime and therefore guilty under the third count in the indictment, but the position of the prosecution, under the evidence offered for it, being’ that Kistener was neither the principal nor an aider or abettor in the crime, it was immaterial whether appellant was acquainted with him or had engaged in private conversations with him just preceding the murder, and the proof of such facts was irrelevant, but the appellant made no objection to the testimony of these witnesses, cross-examined them at length, and requested the court to instruct the jury to the effect, that it should not consider the evidence of one of them for any purpose, except to the extent that it might affect the credibility of appellant as a witness, if it did have such effect. The court in compliance with this request, so instructed the jury, and did likewise in the case of the other two, with
(3) It is contended for appellant, that the testimony of Malone tended to prove that he was an accomplice of appellant in the murder of Iseman, and that the court erred to the prejudice of the substantial rights of appellant in failing, by an instruction, to submit to the jury as a question of fact whether or not Malone was an accomplice; and in failing to instruct the jury, if it found from the evidence, that Malone was an accomplice in the commission of the crime, that it should not find appellant guilty upon the testimony of Malone, unless it was corroborated by other evidence tending to connect appellant with the commission of the offense; and that the corroboration was not sufficient if it merely showed that the offense was committed and the circumstances of it, as provided by section 241, of the Criminal Code. The law pertaining to the duty of the court where the testimony of an accomplice is relied upon for a conviction is well settled. If the testimony of the accomplice is uncorroborated it is insufficient to sustain a conviction of a crime. The corroborating evidence must tend to connect the accused with the commission of the crime, Corroborating evidence, which merely shows that a crime has been committed and the circumstances of it, is insufficient. Where upon the evidence, as a matter of law, the court cannot hold that the witness was an accomplice of the accused in the commission of the crime it is a question to he determined by the jury upon the evidence, under proper instructions of the court. If the jury is of the opinion that the witness was an accomplice, it should acquit the accused, unless the corroborating evidence exists. Bowling v. Com., 79 Ky. 606; Smith v. Com., 148 Ky. 69; Deaton v. Com., 157 Ky. 308. Where the evidence justifies it, the court should instruct the jury in accordance with the views above expressed, and to fail to do so would be prejudicial error. The determination as to whether or not Malone was an accomplice of the appellant in the murder of Iseman will determine whether the court was in error in failing to give the instructions about which the appellant complains. In arriving at the conclusion of the status of Malone, it is only necessary to examine his own evidence, as no other
(4) The affidavits of the persons who testify that Lizzie Stevens made statements, which are contradictory of the statements made by her upon the trial, do not constitute a valid ground for a new trial. The evidence of Lizzie Stevens was only permitted, by the instructions of the court, to be considered as a contradiction of the testimony of appellant, to the extent that it might affect his credibility as a witness, and this court has repeatedly held that a new trial will not be granted for the purpose of enabling the party applying for it to impeach a witness. When newly discovered, evidence merely tends to impeach a witness, it is not regarded as decisive in character sufficient to authorize a new trial. Knipp v. Com., 159 Ky. 775; Deaton v. Com., 157 Ky. 308. In the instant case, Malone, Cooper and Seay made similar statements to the Stevens woman, and it cannot be seen how an impeachment of her alone would create any probability of a different result to a new trial from the result in the one complained of.
(5) The contention that a new trial should have been granted because the verdict of the jury was palpably against the weight of the evidence cannot be upheld. The evidence of appellant’s guilt was sufficient to require a submission of the case to the jury. While the evidence which tended to prove an alibi for appellant was strong, it and the evidence for the Commonwealth conflicted seriously as to the whereabouts of appellant at the time of the murder and immediately thereafter. The jury is the judge of the credibility of the witnesses. The witnesses were before the jury and it had the opportunity to observe their manner, appearance, intelligence, and apparent truthfulness, which we have not. It arrived at the conclusion that the appellant was guilty of being a principal in the commission of the crime. The weight of the evidence is always a question for the jury. We cannot, set aside its finding because it has believed one set of witnesses and not another. We will not disturb the finding of the jury when the evidence is contradictory, when the accused has had a fair trial, on the ground that the weight of the evidence is against the verdict. Such a course would make this court the trier
The instructions fairly presented the issues to be tried.
There is no error of law appearing upon the record, which prevented appellant from having a fair trial, and the judgment is therefore affirmed.