Cross v. State

143 S.W.2d 538, 200 Ark. 1165, 1940 Ark. LEXIS 191
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 30, 1940
Docket4180
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 143 S.W.2d 538 (Cross v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cross v. State, 143 S.W.2d 538, 200 Ark. 1165, 1940 Ark. LEXIS 191 (Ark. 1940).

Opinion

Humphreys, J.

An information was filed by the prosecuting attorney of Pope county in the circuit court charging appellant with the crime of murder by killing Joe Ehemann in said county on the 8th day of November, 1939.

Thereafter, on the 18th day of April, 1940, she was tried and convicted of murder in the second degree and, as a punishment therefor, was adjudged to serve a term of five years in the state penitentiary.

From the judgment of conviction she has duly prosecuted an appeal to this court seeking a reversal of the judgment on three assignments of error contained in her motion for a new trial which was overruled by the court over her objection and exception.

The three assignments of error argued by learned counsel of appellant as grounds for a reversal of the judgment are:

First, that the trial court erred in admitting the clothing worn by the deceásed to be presented in evidence after they had been laundered;

Second, that the trial court erred in admitting in evidence the statement made by Joe Ehemann before he died to his cousin, T. J. Ehemann, relative to the shooting;

Third, that the trial court erred in permitting the state to attempt to impeach appellant’s testimony upon collateral matters by witnesses O. E. Bowden and Burl C. Harris.

(1) The theory of the state and testimony introduced in support thereof, was to the effect that appellant shot Joe Ehemann five times in the stomach and bowels after he had left her standing in the road, where they had been conversing, and had returned to the side or door of his truck.

The theory of appellant and her testimony in support thereof was to the effect that she was walking south and met Joe Ehemann’s truck going north, and that after he passed her he stopped his truck, got out, overtook and grabbed her saying, “Wouldn’t you speak to a body?” that she asked him to turn her loose, but he put his arm around her neck and kept pulling her toward him at which time she openéd her handbag, took therefrom her pistol and shot him; that he then released her, turned and walked back to' his truck, and that she walked on toward her home in the direction she was going when he grabbed or took hold of her. She further testified that she shot him because he looked'wild, and she was afraid of him, and because she could not push him away as he was a large man and. she was a small woman; that for several months he had been annoying her and trying to force his attentions upon her over her protests and against her will.

A sharp issue in the trial was whether appellant shot Joe Ehemann during a struggle or whether she was forty or fifty, feet from him when she fired the shots which resulted in his death a few days thereafter.

If she shot him as she stated when he was pulling her toward him, the clothes he was wearing would likely have been powder burned, but if she shot him after he returned to his truck some forty or fifty feet distant, powder burns would- not appear on his clothes.

When the clothes were offered in evidence objection was made because they had been laundered and were not in the same- condition they were in when the shots were fired. We think the fact that the clothes had been washed made no difference because the witness who washed them testified that they had no powder bums on them either before or after he washed them. The court admitted the clothes in evidence for the sole purpose of tending to show whether the principals were in close proximity or some distance apart when the fatal shots were fired.

Where the changed condition of clothing worn by deceased when killed does not prevent them from tending to prove or disprove an issue in the case, then it is proper to admit the clothes to be introduced in evidence. State v. McGuire, 84 Conn. 470, 80 Atl. 761, 38 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1050 ; Pate v. State, 152 Ark. 553, 239 S. W. 27. The court did not err in admitting the clothes in evidence under the rule announced in those cases.

(2) The record reflects without dispute that appellant shot Joe Ehemann about six o’clock p. m. on November 8, 1939, about two miles south of Atkins, and after the shooting he asked his brother who had been in the truck with him to hurry and take him home as he was shot all to pieces. He was taken to his father’s home that was between the place where he was shot and Atkins; that he was then taken to the hospital where a transfusion of blood was administered to him, and after being put under an anesthetic an operation was performed upon him between 7:30 and 8:00 o’clock. About ten o’clock he became conscious and later or about 6:30 the next morning he made a statement to his cousin relative to the shooting which was offered in evidence as a dying declaration of the deceased to the introduction of which appellant objected. A suggestion was made that'his evidence be heard in the trial judge’s office in the absence of the jury. The court heard the testimony of the witness and after doing so returned to the court room and admitted the evidence of the witness as the dying declaration of the deceased. The witness stated that after the operation and after Joe Ehemann revived toward midnight he looked over at him and said: “Did they get all the bullets out of me?” and I said: “Yes.” Then I walked over to the bed and leaned over him and told him that the bullets had passed through him, then he said, “Well, what did they say I looked like inside?” and I said, “To be fair with you, you are in bad shape.” He said, “I know I am. I am shot all to pieces.” He shed some tears and put Ms hands over his eyes like that (indicating). I put my hand on his shoulder and said, ‘ ‘ Where there is life there is hope,” and he said, “I know that I can’t live. I am shot all to pieces.” I said, “Gro on and take some rest. I will talk to you later. ’ ’ I just patted him on the shoulder and told him to get some sleep.

“Q. He told you that he couldn’t live? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you talk to him any more that night? A. No, sir, not any conversation, only thing he would revive and rub his hand. I tried to get him to get as much rest as he could. Q. Any one in the room when he was talking to you? A. Let me see, I don’t believe the nurse was in there. Q. Who was the nurse? A. Miss Burns. Q. The next morning did you talk to him before you left? A. Next morning about 6:30 I was getting ready to go home and I went by the bed. Joe and I were always good friends. I went over there and asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He was lying on his back. He turned over on his side and put his hand out and complained about his finger.

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486 S.W.2d 684 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1972)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
143 S.W.2d 538, 200 Ark. 1165, 1940 Ark. LEXIS 191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cross-v-state-ark-1940.