Bowen v. State

133 S.W. 255
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 2, 1910
StatusPublished

This text of 133 S.W. 255 (Bowen v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bowen v. State, 133 S.W. 255 (Tex. 1910).

Opinions

McCORD, J.

Appellant was indicted and convicted for burglary and his punishment assessed at confinement in the penitentiary for two years. At the February term, 1910, of the district court of Hamilton county there was returned a hill of indictment against Will Probst, John Bowen, and Ed. Marvin, charging them with burglary committed on the 28th day of January, 1909, by force breaking into a house under the control of one W. M. Chaney, with the fraudulent intent to take, carry away, and steal out of said house personal property therein situated. A severance was asked and granted and the defendant John Bowen was placed upon trial, resulting in his conviction, as aforesaid.

On the night of January 28, 1909, the Farmers’ & Merchants’ State Bank located at Carlton, Hamilton county, was burglarized. The parties entered said bank and by the use of glycerine, or some other explosive, blew open the safe of the bank and robbed it of some $9,000 or $10,000 consisting of gold, silver, and paper currency of different denominations, there being $100 bills, $20 bills, $10 bills, $5, etc. Some of the money was national bank currency, some gold certificates, and some silver certificates. Some miles from the place of the robbery there was discovered where some parties had recently been. There was a bottle marked Jersey Cream Whisky, a tin can or two marked Van Camp’s Pork and Beans, and a number of cigarette stumps, also crumbs of bread, showing that the parties had been there some little time and had eaten a lunch. It was not known who committed this offense. It was done some time during the night of the 28th of January, as before stated. Also at this place was found a 84-40 cartridge and some soap. Around the place where the burglary was committed, there was a pickax, crowbar and sledgehammer, and a great many other tools scattered over the front of the walk; also soap was found around on the wall and one exploded cartridge. There was a barricade made of wire netting, of rolls of wire setting up on the end, on the outside of the door. It may be stated that soap is used in filling the crevices when explosions of this character are made. The testimony shows that the three parties indicted in this case were companions, and that they made a saloon in Fort Worth near what is termed “Hell’s Half Acre,” located in a disreputable part of the city, their rendezvous, and this saloon was conducted by a man they called “Frenchy.” Over this saloon was a place known as the Hoffman Hotel or flats. These parties were not noticed around their usual haunt on the 27th and 28th of January. On the night of the 29th of January they were noticed in Fort Worth, and the defendant was seen on the next morning, or some time thereafter, to deliver a large roll otf money to “Frenchy,” the saloon keeper. The proof showed that Marvin was in Kansas. City about the middle of January; that he disappeared and again showed up there about the 5th of February, and, after getting his mistress, returned with her the next day to Fort Worth. The testimony further shows that when he appeared in Kansas City he had a large roll of money and in the wad were two $100 bills. He supplied his mistress with money to make several purchases, and then they returned to Fort Worth. The proof further shows that Marvin, in the early part of February, 1909, deposited in the Texas State Bank somewhere between $700 and $9,00. The proof shows that along about the 5th or 6th of February, Bowen, with a woman he called his wife, Probst, with his mistress, and Marvin, with his mistress, .all went out and rented a house in South Fort Worth on what is called La Avenue. Low-ry testified that the first time he ever saw Bowen was about the 20th of January on Sunday evening, when he came and wanted to get something to eat; that on the 29th day of January Marvin and Bowen, the defendant, came to his' store to pay a little bill that their wives had made; that they paid him with a $20 bill, the amount of the purchase being less than $1; that this was on Friday evening; that from Friday evening until Sunday morning he received from Marvin and Bowen 15 $20 bills; that every time they made a purchase, none of which exceeded a dollar, they would give him a $20 bill in payment; that some of the purchases did not amount to more than 10 cents. On the morning of the 13th day of February, 1909, officers arrested Will Probst and Ed. Marvin at the house on La Avenue. Bowen was not arrested, but on the next morning, the officer stating that he did not know Bowen was there at the time, he arrested the other two. The officer says that he found, out under the barn, three pistols wrapped up in some papers; that* under the back porch there was a lot of rubbish, such as tin cans and wood. That he also found wrapped up in the tail of an undershirt a lot of cartridges; that the pistols were all wrapped up in newspapers; that there were some three or four hundred cartridges found on the [258]*258back porch; that one of the girls staying at the house said she took the pistols and cartridges after the arrest of Marvin and Probst and hid them at the places they were found. It may be stated that when the officers arrested Probst they did not arrest Marvin, but he followed along, and that when they got nearly to the City Hall Pro-bst started to give Marvin his diamond and Marvin started to get off, when they arrested Marvin, and that when they searched them $58 were taken off of Probst and $30 off of Marvin; that Marvin had on a diamond ring and diamond pin. Probst had on a diamond ring. As before stated, these people were not shown to have any visible means of support. They had been missed from Port Worth about the time of this robbery; they hung around this saloon in this disreputable portion of the city. Shortly after the robbery they were seen with a groat deal of money, sporting diamonds, and a large roll of money was deposited in a saloon by one of them, to wit, Bowen, Probst being present when this was done. Marvin made a large deposit in the bank; they gather their mistresses and go out to South Port Worth and rent a house; they are seen within two days exhibiting money of large denomination; . they are making-small purchases and passing $20 bills to be changed. All the facts and circumstances show that they have recently come into the possession of money.

The state proved by Etherton that on the evening previous to the robbery of the Carlton bank he saw three parties who were strangers in the little town -of Alexander, some 10 miles north of Carlton; that they were down south of the depot some 30 or 40 yards; that there were two large men and one small one; that he did not see the men’s faces; that they were going south when he saw them; that they were all dressed in dark clothes and all had on black hats. He states that he did not consider them to be ordinary laboring men; that they did not look like laboring men; that the two large men held themselves up straight and erect and looked a little above the average man, and attracted witness’s attention; that he noticed them until they traveled some four or five hundred yards. This witness further says that he had noticed the three men who are charged with the robbery of the Carlton bank; that their names are Marvin, Probst, and Bowen, the defendant now on trial. The witness further says: “I will say that the two larger of these men appear in size and make-up to a letter wfcth the two larger men that I saw in Alexander that day, but this man Bowen to my knowledge and belief is smaller than the men I saw. The witness further testified that two of the men had bundles.” On cross-examination the witness said: “I could not say that the smallest one of those men -was smaller than this defendant, but it seems that he was. I could not say he was taller.

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Related

Conde v. State
34 S.W. 286 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1895)
Clark v. State
12 S.W. 729 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1889)

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Bluebook (online)
133 S.W. 255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bowen-v-state-texcrimapp-1910.