259 P. 998 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1927
By an information filed on the ninth day of February, 1927, the defendant was accused of the crime of murder, in that the defendant did, on or about the twenty-fifth day of December, 1926, at the county of Butte, in the state of California, wrongfully, wilfully, unlawfully, feloniously, and with malice aforethought, kill and murder one Aleata Pearl Coan. Trial was had upon this information, and on the twenty-sixth day of March, 1927, the jury in said cause returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The defendant's motion for a new trial being denied, the defendant appeals therefrom and from the judgment entered upon the verdict returned, as above stated.
The transcript shows that the defendant and Aleata Pearl Coan were husband and wife. That for some period of time they had resided in the county of Butte, state of California. That on the evening of December 24, 1926, the defendant and his wife, Aleata, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Ford, made a visit to the home of Mrs. Lockerman, the mother of Mrs. Coan. That upon arriving there they found also present Robert Childress and Francis Cory. Shortly thereafter a brother of Mrs. Coan's, Tyson Lockerman, arrived at the same residence. Tyson Lockerman invited the defendant and Thomas Ford to accompany him to a bootlegging "joint." Liquor was there procured and brought back by Lockerman to the Lockerman residence where the party was assembled. After the return from the bootlegging "joint" some time was spent in games, singing, social conversation, and drinking. There does not appear to have been any quarreling or dissension. About 12:30 or 1 A.M. of December 25, 1926, the Coans and Fords started for their respective *582 homes. When the Coans residence was reached, Ford and his wife stopped there, and some time was spent in listening to a radio. Then the Fords left and went to their own home. While the Fords were at the residence of the Coans, the defendant suggested to his wife Aleata that they open certain Christmas presents, but to this Aleata replied that she did not want them opened until Christmas Day. Left to themselves, after a short interval the Coans retired for the night, Mrs. Coan going to bed first. After going to bed, Mrs. Coan called to her husband to come to bed. He did so, but forgot to put out the light. Mrs. Coan then said that the last one to get into bed was the one to put out the light. Defendant, according to his statement, said it was her turn to put out the light. There is nothing to show that this conversation was other than friendly. Thereafter a scuffle ensued between the two, and the defendant pushed his wife partly out of bed with his feet. According to the defendant's statement, Aleata put her hand on the floor as her head was hanging over the side of the bed, and said, "Look out, you're hurting me." Thereupon the defendant pulled her back into the bed, placed himself across her chest, and taking her head between his hands, shook it from side to side; then placed his hand on her nose, rubbing her face. Defendant suddenly noticed that Mrs. Coan had ceased to struggle with him and had become white and still. Thereupon, he went to the kitchen, got water and tried to revive her. His efforts to revive Aleata proving unavailing, he put on his clothing and went to the Lockerman home, a distance of about a quarter of a mile, for help; told Tyson Lockerman he had killed his wife and begged him to come at once and help. He then left the Lockerman home; started back to his own residence. When Lockerman and Childress, who accompanied Lockerman, reached the Coan residence they found that Aleata was dead. One of them telephoned to the sheriff and thereafter the defendant was arrested.
Just what occurred at the time of the tragedy is disclosed only by the defendant's testimony, which, as to that occurrence, is here set forth in full: "And she went to bed and called me and after I got in bed she said to put out the light and I told her it was her turn, that she should put the light out; and when I did that I took my foot and started to push her out of the bed and she said, `Look out you are *583 hurting me'; and she leaned her face over the bed. Her head was leaning over the bed, I mean, and I took hold of her and pulled her back in the bed again; and she slapped me on the covers, on the arm; and then I got up and stood up and I dropped down on her with my knees and then I sit astraddle of her and took her by the face and shook her head, and I shook her nose with my hand, rubbed her nose, and I looked at her and her — her face — her lips was white and she looked white; her mouth; and I asked her what was the matter and she never answered me; she had her eyes shut so I went and got some water and put the water on her face; and I talked to her and she never said anything; she never answered me; and I put the water in her mouth — I don't know — I don't know what I done — I put my clothes on and then I went for Ty and I got up there and I told Ty that I had killed Aleata and he — I don't know what Ty said but he said `All right' I guess or something like that, I guess — I don't know what he said; but anyhow I went back home; I started home and when I got part way there Ty and Bob came along and put me in the automobile."
An examination of the deceased showed that death had resulted from the dislocation of a vertebra of the neck. The neck was not broken nor was there any evidence that the deceased had been choked. There were no marks upon the body of the deceased indicating that any blow had been struck, although the defendant, in response to a question that night, stated that he must have struck her. The only mark or dislocation was the swelling on the neck of the deceased on the right side in the region of the dislocation. The defendant was a man accustomed to hard work and had rough or calloused hands. According to the testimony in the transcript, the deceased had an unusually long neck, and due to this fact, according to the testimony, a dislocation of this kind would be more easily produced than in a person of ordinary build.
During the course of the trial considerable testimony was introduced by way of cross-examination of the defendant as to his having gone through a marriage ceremony with a woman supposed to be a divorced woman, prior to his marriage with the deceased, and his separation from the first woman upon discovering that she was not a divorced person; also, there was testimony introduced as to certain offenses *584 alleged to have been committed against the person of said woman known as Emma Ward, and also against Eva Ward, a daughter of Emma Ward by her legitimate husband. To the introduction of this testimony the defendant objected, and to the overruling of the defendant's objections and the admission of such testimony, the appellant here assigns his reasons why a new trial should be granted. This testimony related to separate and distinct offenses alleged to have been committed long prior to the act for which the defendant was placed on trial. Under the theory that the testimony in question was admissible to show motive or intent, the prosecution placed the witness, Eva Ward, upon the witness-stand, and, over the objections of the defendant, the court permitted her to testify as follows: "I reside in San Jose. I know the defendant. He lived with my mother about ten years, I suppose. It was in Monterey County. We lived at the coal mine and on a Homestead. I was about fourteen or fifteen years of age. Q. At that time and place do you remember any relations that you had with Mr. Coan? A. There was a pencil-box, and it seems that Mr. Coan accused my brother of taking a pencil out of that box. We were all sitting around the table and he accused her kid and he swore and went into the room and brought out the pencil-box and said to my mother, `Now I will show you that that God damned kid of yours did take the pencil out of there' and my mother caught him opening the pencil-box, and he grabbed her by the neck and stood her against the wall, and I said, `Let my mother alone,' and the children were all hollering, and he kept on and I picked up a chair and hit him on the head with it, and he let my mother go and said, `Here, you son-of-a-bitch, take this,' and he hit me in the eye."
This alleged occurrence took place, if at all, seven or eight years prior to the commission of the offense for which the defendant was upon trial.
For a like purpose, and upon a similar theory, the prosecution was permitted by the court, over the objection of the defendant, to elicit from the witness, Mrs. Emma Davis, testimony concerning an event which took place some four years prior to the twenty-fourth day of December, 1926. After testifying that the defendant and the woman heretofore referred to with whom the defendant had lived as his wife were in the basement of the lodging-house kept by the witness, *585 the witness, in response to a question as to what happened there in her presence, testified as follows: "Well, he had her down on the floor and was choking her, and she hollered for me, and I went to help her, and I saw him jerk her up from the floor, and she had black marks on her; she had black marks on her side, and he hurt her so that she was in bed for two weeks under the doctor's care. I heard her holler `Mamma D,' and told him to quit that, and she screamed and I went down there and he jerked her up off the floor and was brushing the dirt off of her." And in response to a question as to what the defendant said, the witness testified: "He said, `Oh, hell, why didn't you stay out of here.'" There was further testimony indicating the illicit nature of the alleged assault. The testimony of the witness was further to the effect that the defendant and the woman with whom he had been living, and with whom the trouble is alleged to have occurred, had not then agreed to a separation on account of the fact that the woman had a husband living at the time of her purported marriage with the defendant.
So far as the record shows the court made no ruling limiting the purpose for which his testimony was admitted, but the statement contained in the record of one of the prosecuting officers discloses what the prosecution had in mind. We quote from the language of Mr. White: "I understand that one of the issues in this case is the motive or the intent of the defendant at the time of what he claims to be an accident. . . . and we have a right to show the defendant's inclination and the reasons and the way he treated other people and the offenses of a similar character with the people in the same relations with him, and it will give some light to the jury and will help them to understand why he acted as he did on Christmas morning. Now, here is a case where the defendant had another wife and lived with her ten years and had four children, and it was his privilege, as he claims, to attack them occasionally, and if he would attack his wife or his prior wife, it is reasonable to assume that he would attack any other wife that he had if he was in the mood for it. It would show his disposition in that direction. I understand that is the reason for the introduction of this testimony." Further on the district attorney made the following statement: "Now, this case resolves *586 itself as follows: Mr. Coan admitted that he killed Aleata, but he never said whether he did it on purpose or not or whether it was an accident, but the testimony that he put in goes to that effect. Now, every crime consists of two elements, the act itself and the intent. If the intent is lacking a man goes scot-free, because we have to assume that it was an accident, if so proven; but if it is not proven in the case either by the prosecution or the defense, then the law assumes a malicious intent and that he did it on purpose. But all the evidence that Mr. Duncan could get in to show that it was an accident would remove that malice and criminal intent and we could not introduce other acts, as Mr. Duncan has said . . . We could not put it on for that purpose because the defendant is entitled to be tried on this one charge — the murder of Aleata. We could not bring in a charge that he killed someone else to prove that he had killed Aleata, because he has admitted that he killed her; but we bring it in for the purpose of showing his bodily feeling or his mental feeling or what kind of a man he is with respect to the conditions that are shown up in the evidence."
So far as the transcript discloses, up to the time of the admission of this evidence, no claim had been made by the defendant one way or the other, save and except as the plea of not guilty had been entered by him and the defendant had detailed the events of the night of December 24th and the morning of December 25, 1926. We assume, however, that the cause was argued to the jury by counsel for the defendant upon the hypothesis that no murder or serious bodily injury was intended.
[1] While there are some English cases to the contrary, the unbroken line of decisions in this country and in this state is to the effect that it is improper, on the trial of a defendant for one crime, to prove that he has committed other crimes having no connection with the one under investigation. Admitting, generally, the correctness of this rule, respondent calls our attention to a few English cases holding to the contrary, and then cites certain California cases where evidence of other offenses has been admitted under the exception that evidence of other crimes is admissible when the intent accompanying the act is equivocal or where it otherwise becomes an issue in the trial, as where it is *587 claimed that the act in question was free from a felonious intent or was the result of mistake, accident, or inadvertence.
In People v. Sanders,
Again, in the case of People v. Craig,
In People v. Cook,
In People v. Argentos,
In People v. King,
In People v. Byrnes,
In the case of People v. Glass,
In People v. Cook,
In People v. Carpenter,
In the case of People v. Elliott,
In People v. Stewart,
We do not need to review the cases or attempt any further explanation or interpretation of the meaning and intent of section 4 1/2 of article VI of the constitution of this state. That is fully covered in the case of People v. Adams,
[5] Appellant also urges that the court erred in permitting the cross-examination of the defendant as to his former marriage with the woman to whom we have referred in this opinion as having had a husband living at the time of her marriage to the defendant. As the cause must go back for retrial for other reasons, it is not necessary to go into this question at length and decide whether the contention of the appellant is or is not well taken as to such error being sufficient ground for reversal. So far as we have been able to ascertain, the cross-examination of the defendant referred to was upon a subject not touched upon in the direct examination of the defendant, or having any relation thereto or bearing upon the same, and the objections of the defendant should have been sustained.
The recent case of People v. Frank,
It is further urged that the district attorney was guilty of misconduct in his argument before the jury, but as such argument had relation principally to the testimony which we have held should have been excluded, it is not probable that a repetition of such argument will occur, and therefore need not be dwelt upon herein.
The order and judgment of the trial court are reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial.
Burroughs, J., pro tem., and Finch, P.J., concurred. *596