127 Iowa 318 | Iowa | 1904
Lead Opinion
Tbe defendant and Lena Cassman were married in tbe latter part of tbe year 1900, be at tbe time being a widower with two small children. After tbeir marriage they lived on a farm in Butler county, Iowa, where be killed her on tbe 18th day of June, 1901. Tbeir married life, though short, bad not been an altogether happy one, for they were both of hasty temper, and frequently quarreled over
After the defendant had been charged with the murder of his wife, and while he was confined in jail, he made a confession to the sheriff of the county, in the presence of others, in which he stated that after Schneider and the children had gone down the road to shoot robins, his wife went out to the barn, where he was, and began to find fault with his relatives; that he finally asked her, “ What is the matter with you anyway ?” and at the same time reached for a pail of feed, as if he were going to throw it at her; that she thereupon screamed and ran to the house; that he followed her there, opened the door, and that, as he stepped inside she struck him with a chair over the head; that he then “ went wild, caught the chair away from her, or another chair, and struck her over the head.” He stated also that he poured kerosene oil over her body and set it afire; that he cut her throat with his jackknife; and that he “ did the whole thing.” This confession was reduced to writing by one of the persons present, and when completed it was read to the defendant and was signed and sworn to by him. TJpon the trial the writing was not offered in evidence, nor was there any reason given for not offering it. The State was permitted, how
You are instructed that, before the jury can find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree, thdy must ascertain as a matter of fact that the accused was in such a state of mind as to do the act of killing willfully, 'deliberately, premeditately, and with malice aforethought; and any fact that will shed light upon the condition of his mind at the time of the killing may be looked into by them, and constitute legitimate proof for their consideration. And among other facts, any state of drunkenness being proven, it is a legitimate subject of inquiry as to what influence such intoxication might have had upon the mind of the defendant in the perpetration of the deed, and whether he was not, at the time of the killing, in such a state of mind, by reason of intoxication, as would be unfavorable to the commission of a crime requiring deliberation and premeditation.
If there had been affirmative evidence of intoxication, the instruction asked, or a similar one, should have been given. The crime charged involved the condition of the defendant’s, mind at the time of the killing, and evidence of intoxication could be considered by the jury in determining his mental condition; but we know of no authority holding that the mere fact that an offender drank liquor shortly before committing the crime will constitute such evidence of intoxication as to require the question of its effect upon his mental condition to be submitted to the jury. It is the mental confusion pro-
The third statement complained of presents a question of a much more serious nature. Counsel told of a case in the State of Illinois where one juror of the panel which acquitted the defendant afterwards took part in lynching him. True, counsel did not say in so many words that the accused was lynched after acquittal, but the veil covering the allusion thereto was so transparent that it hid nothing. In justice to counsel, however, we should further say that his comments on the verdict related only to the failure of the jurors to do their duty, regardless of everything else. We do not think counsel intended to impress upon the jurors the possibility of a lynching in case they should acquit, but enough was said to suggest to them that an acquittal might create such a feeling of condemnation in the public mind
If you do not find the defendant guilty of murder in either the first or second degree, but do find from the evidence introduced upon the trial, under these instructions, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant, in Butler county, Iowa, on or about June 18, 1901, did unlawfully kill Lena Busse, without malice either express or implied, and without deliberation, by resorting to any or all of the methods alleged in the indictment, then you ought to find the defendant guilty of manslaughter, whether such killing was voluntary or involuntary. Otherwise you should .not so find.
In Bishop’s New Criminal Procedure, section 878, the learned author says:
*327 Tbe law of tbe case wbicb tbe judge is to lay down to tbe jury is not tbe abstract law, sucb as a statute or common-law definition of a crime, but tbe law’s conclusion from tbe several, and perhaps varied facts wbicb tbe evidence tends to establish, viewed in connection with tbe pleadings. Therefore no abstract proposition, however correct, should be given in charge; not only because it would be confusing to tbe jury, who, being unused to legal disquisitions, would not know bow to apply it, but also because its combination with tbe special facts might render it erroneous.
In State v. Glynden, 51 Iowa, 463, it was’said of the instructions:
They are rather general and abstract propositions- of law, correct enough in tbe main, but, on account of their generality, their bearing and force may not have been fully understood and correctly applied by tbe jury. In this respect tbe instructions are capable of great improvement. These remarks are made, not because we think tbe instructions are absolutely erroneous, but because we believe justice would be more surely administered were instructions given to juries of tbe character we have indicated they should possess.
If tbe jury did not fully understand, from tbe instructions given, tbe relations wbicb tbe exculpatory facts contained in tbe confession bore to the degree of the crime charged in tbe indictment', tbe defendant’s legal rights were not properly guarded, and tbe verdict should not stand. State v. Helvin, 65 Iowa, 289; State v. Hathaway, 100 Iowa, 225. And sucb is tbe conclusion of some members of tbe court. It is said that tbe instruc-. tion asked on this branch of tbe case was not in all particulars correct, and this may be conceded. It was a request, however, for tbe court to instruct specifically on that subject, and this, we think, be should have done when bis attention was called to tbe matter, whether tbe instruction presenting tbe request was in all respects right or otherwise.
Tbe court is not bound to instruct in tbe language of counsel, and in fact we have held that it is tbe better prac
Concurrence Opinion
(concurring). It may be conceded that, as 'a rule, instructions should apply the law to the facts, but in no case to be found in the books has failure to do so, where the facts are so simple that the applicability of the law as stated is manifest, or so apparent that misapprehension or mistake is altogether unlikely, been regarded as reversible error. This is for the very good reason that some things are so plain that any elaboration or -explanation is not only unnecessary, but often tends to confusion. Of this the case at bar is an illustration. The most serious error complained of is the court’s omission to instruct more specifically on the crime of manslaughter. An accurate instruction on the subject was not requested, and therefore the fault, if any, must be found in the charge of the court as given. The accused, if guilty at all, was guilty of murder in the first or second degree or of manslarighter, and, in my opinion, these were so clearly differentiated in the charge of the court, the one from the other, the duty of deciding of which he was guilty so strongly emphasized, and the definition of manslaughter, as given, so pertinent to the only state of facts indicating in any way guilt of that offense, that the jury could not have failed to fully comprehend the bearing of the law on the facts of the case.
I. In the fourth paragraph of the charge the court instructed that, “ whosoever kills a human being with malice aforethought, either express or implied, is guilty of murder,” and in-the seventh that manslaughter is “the unlawful killing of a human being without malice, either express
II. Tbe necessity of discriminating between offenses, and deciding of which be should be convicted, was definitely stated. In tbe second instruction it was said be could be found guilty of any one of them, while in tbe fourth tbe jury was told that, if be “ should be found-guilty of one of ■them, and a reasonable doubt was entertained as to whether be was guilty of a greater or less offense,” be should be given tbe benefit of tbe doubt, and be convicted of the lesser one only; and tbe twenty-sixth instruction cautioned against a conviction of more than one of tbe crimes enumerated. Precisely what was essential to a verdict of guilty of each was concisely stated in three successive instructions: In tbe twenty-tbird, what was essential in order to convict of murder in the first degree; in tbe twenty-fourth, what should be found to convict of murder in tbe second degree; and in the twenty-fifth instruction that, if the killing was unlawful, and without malice, either express or implied, and without deliberation, he should be convicted of manslaughter.
III. With full knowledge of the distinction between murder and manslaughter, and conscious of their duty, as they must have been, to determine of which the defendant was guilty, the- jurors began their inquiry.. The evidence was without serious conflict. None was introduced in behalf of the defendant save as to his previous character, his offer to loan some money belonging to his wife, and a contradic
While I was choring around out at the barn, my wife came out, and she went talking about her folks — finding fault. That there was Harm Cassman. She wasn’t going over there any more. He charged her five dollars for riding with him over to Ackley to Kruse’s — Siko Kruses — because he had some of her furniture he would not. let her have. Then I said to her, “ What is the matter with you anyway ? ” There was a pail of feed sitting on the ground. I reached down and took it, as though I was going to throw" it at her. She screamed, and ran to the house. I followed her up to the house, to see what she was going to do, and as I opened the door she struck me over the head with something. I went crazy wild at that time, and struck her with something, I don’t know what. I done all the rest.
He Was pretty sure it was a chair with which she hit him, and that he seized the same from her, or another one, and struck her. The consequence of an act, naturally resulting therefrom, in the absence of any circumstances indicating the contrary, are presumed to have been intended, as the jury was informed; and but for the confession, a verdict for murder in either the first or second degree must have been returned. This is conceded, but it is said that the attention of the jury was not directed to the bearing of the confession on the crime of manslaughter. Let me repeat that the only information as to the manner
It must not be forgotten that the courts, in delivering instructions in this State, are speaking to men of larger capacity and more liberal education than was possessed by those who sat in the jury box when many of the rules relating to the charging of juries were developed and announced. By this I do not mean to say that inaccuracy in the statement of the law of a case should be tolerated, but that in determining whether the jury must have comprehended and correctly applied the law to the facts the high degree of intelligence and advanced education of the modern juror should be recognized, and taken into consideration. This was not necessary, however, in the instant case, for anything above ordinary mental acumen need not be presumed in order to conclude that the applicability of the law to the statement contained in the confession was fully appreciated by the jury; for (1) the account contained in such confession was the only evidence to which the instruction on manslaughter could have been applied; (2) the instruction was pertinent to the language of the confession, and directly applicable thereto, and to no other evidence in the case; and (3) the necessity of a finding as to whether defendant was guilty of this particular offense was especially enjoined upon the jury. In convicting him of murder in the first degree, the contention that he acted without malice was rejected. The finding of deliberation, premeditation, and a willful purpose to kill necessarily excluded the notion that the crime was the result of 'passion. His own story stamped him as the aggressor. If he is to be believed, he committed the first assault by reaching for the pail of feed in such a threatening manner that his wife rushed screaming to the house, and closed the door behind her, the defendant pursuing, and upon opening the door was met by force in apparent self-defense, when he beat her down to the earth. It
In my opinion, the accused was accorded a fair and impartial trial, and the judgment ought to be affirmed.