Crawford v. State

110 So. 517, 144 Miss. 793, 1926 Miss. LEXIS 417
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 6, 1926
DocketNo. 25915.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 110 So. 517 (Crawford v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crawford v. State, 110 So. 517, 144 Miss. 793, 1926 Miss. LEXIS 417 (Mich. 1926).

Opinion

Ethridge, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

*798 The appellant was indicted for the murder of one E. M. Page in the circuit court of Leflore county, convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to serve.a term of five years in the penitentiary.

Crawford was a tenant on the place of E. M. Page during the years 1924-25, and had remained thereon after the expiration of the year 1925 for the purpose of gathering a portion of his crop. He was working a crop on shares, and Page desired the premises, and had made demand therefor. On the morning of-the shooting*, E. M. Page, in company with his brother, went to the place occupied by Crawford for the purpose of seeing about obtaining possession of the house. There is a dispute as to what occurred on this visit, but E. M. Page was shot at said place on said morning.

■ After Page was shot, he was hurried to Greenwood and attended by physicians; but he died the following-night about eight o’clock. There was no chance of his recovery. When the physician first arrived to examine his wpunds, Page stated to him that he would never recover, and the physician tried to encourage him to believe that it .was not so bad, but apparently without success. However, that night, Page’s condition was not hopeful, and he so informed him. The county attorney and Dr. Smith, a dentist, visited the deceased for the purpose of getting a dying declaration. The testimony of the attending physician is in part as follows:

“Q. What did he say? A. The first thing he said, when I walked into the room, was: ‘Well, Doctor, they have got me this time. This is going to kill me.’

“Q. What did you say in reply? A. I said ‘Oh, I don’t think so.’ I remember I made the remark, ‘Possibly it is not so bad. ’

“Q. Did you examine him at his residence? A. . Yes, sir; I did.

“Q1. As a result of that examination, what determination was made as to whether he was to remain there or be carried somewhere else?' A. On account of the se *799 riousness of the wound, we decided it was best to bring him to the King’s Daughters’ Hospital for treatment.

On cross-examination he was asked as follows:

“Q. Didn’t he further tell you that he had had many a close call and many difficulties, but that he believed they had got him this time. Didn’t he tell you that? A. He told me words to that effect; yes sir. He didn’t say he .believed. He said, ‘ They have got me this time. ’

“Q. Now, Doctor, at the hospital, while he was there, you continued, as the good physician, working the mental effect, the psychology of it, .as it were, and tried all the while to cheer Mr. Page up? A. As much as possible.

“Q. You were trying all the while to impress upon him that he would respond to the treatment and recover? A. Yes, sir.

“Q: You had that hope, and you never told him that he was in extremis until after this statement was made?”

Dr. F. H. Smith, for the state, testified as follows:

. “Qi. Did he say anything to you as tó his condition? . A. Yes, sir.

“Q.. What did he say? A. ‘They have got me this time. I am gone.’

“Q. Did you talk to him any more?1 Did you hear him say anything else at his home? A. No, sir. . . .

“Q. What did he say with reference to his condition (after being brought to the hospital) ? . . . . A. He told me that he had had many close calls, and never felt before that he was going to die; but he felt satisfied .this time he would never pull through. . . .

“Q1. When you went into the room, what happened ■after you got in there? A.' When we went in he seemed to he asleep, but woke up and recognized Means Johnson, and Means spoke to him, and he said: ‘Means, I am glad to see you. They have got me this time, old boy; there is no chance for me. ’

“Q. Did you ask him anything? A. Dr. Gillespie ■ told him he was in a pretty serious condition, and asked *800 him if he realized his condition, and I said, ‘Elbert, who shot you?’ and he said, ‘I haven’t seen him until yet.’ I said, ‘Have you had any hard feelings with Mr. Crawford?’ And he said, ‘Not a bit in the world.’ I asked him if he and Mr. Crawford had had any harsh words, and he said, ‘Not a thing in the world,’ and said he was standing-out in front of the porch, and Mr. Crawford was on the poroh, and that he was talking to Mrs. Crawford about vacating the house, and didn’t know who seen him, and didn’t know who shot him until yet.”

The defendant’s counsel, on cross-examination, asked D'r. Smith the following question:

“Q1. You were asked a few -minutes ago, and you stated, that he told you he had had many close calls before, and you had helped him and seen him through. He was referring to the time when he killed a man in Yalobusha county was he not?”

This question was objected to, the objection sustained, and exception taken. He was then asked:

“Q. You lived in Yalobusha county with him? A. Yes, sir.

“Q. As a matter of fact, you have been sheriff of Yalobusha county? A. íes, sir.

“ Q. You knew Mr. Page at that time, and have known him since? A. Yes, sir.”

Counsel for the state asked the following question:

“Q. What was he referring to when he said you had been with him on many close calls, and had helped pull him through, but you could not pull him through this? A. I was with him when he had one of is kidneys removed and came very near bleeding to death.” .

Counsel for defendant asked:

“ Q. He did not tell you that he referred to one of his kidneys being removed, and so far as you know may have been referring to the time he killed a man over in Yalobusha county?

Mr. MclBeiei (for state): We object to that, and ask the jury to disregard that question in making up their *801 verdict; ask that you. so instruct the jury. (Sustained, and jury so instructed. Exceptions by defendant.)”

•The brother of the deceased testified that appellant shot his brother with a shotgun, and that it occurred about eleven o’clock; that his brother had had a stroke of paralysis, and was just getting up therefrom when this happened, February 23, 1926; that this happened at Crawford’s house, and that Crawford had been living upon his brother’s place for two years, and lived about a quarter of a mile from Page’s residence; that Page, on the occasion he was shot, was standing in front of Crawford’s house, which was a three-room house facing south; that Page was not angry,; his purpose in going there was to get Crawford to remove from the house; that when they drove up the deceased went into the yard, and Mrs. Crawford was sitting on the shelf on the west end of the house; that Page’s eyesight was bad, and he could not see far off; that he walked into the yard to within five steps from the porch, and Mrs. Crawford said “Good morning” to him, and he said, “Good morning, Mrs. Crawford;” and then said, “Mrs. Crawford, is Frank here?” and she said, “No, sir;” and Page said, “Well, Mrs.

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Related

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116 So. 90 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1928)
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Bluebook (online)
110 So. 517, 144 Miss. 793, 1926 Miss. LEXIS 417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crawford-v-state-miss-1926.