10 N.Y. Crim. 291 | NY | 1893
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *72
The defendant was convicted of the crime of arson in the first degree, upon proof, sufficient for the consideration of the jury, that he willfully and maliciously set fire to a lodging-house in the city of New York, in the night time, and in which there were lodging at the time fifteen or twenty persons. The defendant had a room in the house, and the proof tended to show that the fire originated in this room. He had a trunk in the room containing his personal effects, which were insured for one thousand dollars, and this property was partially destroyed before the fire in the room was extinguished. The proof tended to show that this property was insured for much more than its value, and it appeared that though the defendant, in his proofs of loss, stated the value at over $1,500, the claim was settled with the insurance company for $350. The defendant's counsel assumes as we understand him, that the intent was to destroy the trunk and other personal effects insured for the purpose of defrauding the insurance company, but insists that the defendant could not be convicted of arson in the first degree if he set the fire in his room with this intent. His position is that a lawful conviction could not have been obtained upon the facts as it was not charged in the indictment nor established by any proof whatever, that the defendant set the fire with the intent to destroy the building. It is obvious that if the learned counsel is right in his contention that an intent to destroy the building set on fire is a necessary element in the crime of arson in the first degree, then this conviction cannot be upheld. It is clear that such intent was not a necessary element of the crime as it existed at common law or under any statutory definition prevailing in this state prior to the enactment *73
of the present Penal Code. At common law the offense was defined as the willful and malicious burning of another's house. (4 Black. Com. 221, 2 Bishop's Crim. Law, chap. 2, § 8; 2 Wharton's Crim. Law, § 1658.) It has always been regarded as an offense of great malignity, and was formerly punishable with death. Even under our statute, prior to the Penal Code, arson in the first degree was classed among capital crimes, and was punished in the same manner as murder in the second degree. (3 R.S. [7th ed.] 2472.) It was always looked upon as a crime that endangered human life and the security of human habitations, and hence deserving of severer punishment than any offense aimed at the destruction of property merely. The statutory definitions of the crime that have long existed in this state have embraced different degrees, many of which were framed, doubtless, for the protection of property. But the act of setting fire to a dwelling-house in the night time, in which human beings were lodged, has always been classed as an offense ranking with murder in its enormity and its dangerous consequences to society, and it was never supposed that the particular intent or motive that prompted so dangerous an act, was a necessary element of the crime, so long as the act itself was willful and malicious. When it was shown that a person willfully set fire to a house in the night where human beings were at the time, it was supposed that this act alone evidenced such moral depravity and such a reckless disregard of human life as to constitute the offense irrespective of the actual motive from which the act proceeded. So that if it be true that the defendant in this case set fire to his room for the purpose of destroying the property insured, in order to defraud the insurance company, and not to destroy the building, this would not change the character of the offense, as the law on this subject has heretofore been understood. All this, the learned counsel for the defendant contends, has been changed by the provisions of the Penal Code, and thus it becomes necessary to inquire whether the legislature intended to or have in fact worked such an important change in the law by the passage of that statute. While it was intended to *74
define all criminal offenses it was a revision of prior laws on this subject and a substitute for the scattered and fragmentary legislation that preceded it, and must be construed with reference to the law which it replaced. Where an offense is defined in the same language as was employed before, or substantially the same, it will be presumed that no change was intended. (People v. Jaehne,
There is an exception in the case to the decision of the court sustaining a challenge to a juror on the part of the people which it may be proper to notice. This juror had testified that before he would convict a person of arson in the first degree upon circumstantial evidence it would have to be such as to leave no doubt whatever upon his mind, very precise and exact. He explained his meaning further by stating that he did not refer to a reasonable doubt only, but to any doubt whatever. After some further examination the learned recorder propounded to him the following question: "Suppose the court was further to instruct you that if all the circumstances as they were developed by the evidence in the case, pointed in one direction, beyond a reasonable doubt, and that was toward the guilt of the accused, and if it did it was to be received and treated in the same way as you would treat *77
direct evidence, would you do so?" The juror answered: "I don't think I would." Whereupon the court sustained the challenge and the defendant's counsel excepted. It needs no argument to prove that instructions such as are mentioned in the question from court to jury would be improper but it does not follow that the question can be made the basis of a legal exception, as it was intended to test the extent of the juror's prejudice against circumstantial evidence. It was another way of inquiring whether the juror would convict at all upon circumstantial evidence. The exception was not to the question, but to the decision excluding the juror, and as he had stated before the question was propounded, in substance, that he would hesitate to convict, even where the circumstances were of such a character as to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, there was no error in the result within the recent decisions of this court. (People v.McQuade,
There are some other exceptions in the record but we think that they have been fully considered in the court below as well as the questions here discussed and correctly disposed of. The record does not disclose any error that entitles the defendant to a new trial.
It follows that the judgment must be affirmed.
All concur.
Judgment affirmed.