Gallagher v. State

1945 OK CR 59, 159 P.2d 562, 81 Okla. Crim. 15, 1945 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 190
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJune 6, 1945
DocketNo. A-10419.
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 1945 OK CR 59 (Gallagher v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gallagher v. State, 1945 OK CR 59, 159 P.2d 562, 81 Okla. Crim. 15, 1945 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 190 (Okla. Ct. App. 1945).

Opinion

JONES, J.

The defendant, Gilbert Arthur Gallagher, was charged in the district court of Stephens county with the crime of murder; was tried, convicted of manslaughter in the first degree, and sentenced to serve 25 years in the State Penitentiary, and has appealed.

The defendant shot and killed his neighbor, C. L. Hood, early in the afternoon of July 17, 1942, in the yard of the Hood home. Hood was 64 years of age. On the morning of the day of the homicide, Peggy Ree Gallagher, 16-year-old daughter of the defendant, came to the Hood premises to get some peaches. The deceased accompanied her to the orchard. Later, when Peggy Gallagher returned to her home, she told her mother and father that the deceased had made suggestive immoral statements to her while she was in the orchard with him. The defendant and his wife borrowed a shotgun from a neighbor, drove over to the Hood home where Hood was sitting on the porch reading a newspaper.

The wife of the deceased testified that when the defendant and Mrs. Gallagher came to their home, the de *18 fendant stated to deceased, “Tell your wife what occurred between you and Peggy Ree in the orchard or I’ll shoot your-brains out.” That her husband had a newspaper and a pair of eyeglasses in his hand and as he was standing there not saying a word, the defendant shot, killing her husband instantly.

The defense interposed was that of temporary insanity and self-defense. In connection with the plea of self-defense, the defendant testified that when the deceased came down off the steps of the porch and started towards him, he had a paper in his left hand and was holding his right hand as if he had a gun behind the paper. That he thought the deceased had a gun. That deceased suddenly turned his body to the right as if to shoot the defendant and defendant fired because he thought his life was in danger.

The sufficiency of the evidence is not questioned, so it is not necessary to give a more detailed statement of the facts.

It is first contended that the court committed reversible error in his instructions to the jury in refusing requested instructions by the defendant. The defendant requested the following instruction:

“You are instructed, gentlemen of the jury, that it is the duty of each and' every member of the jury in.this case to decide the issues presented for himself, and if, after consideration of all the evidence in the case and the instructions of the Court on the law, and from consultation with his fellow jurors, there is a single juror who has a reasonable doubt of defendant’s guilt, it is his duty under his oath, to stand by his conviction and favor his verdict of not guilty, so long as he entertains such doubt.”

This identical instruction was discussed at length in the case of Frazee v. State, 79 Okla. Cr. 224, 153 P. 2d 637, *19 643. After reviewing many decisions from other jurisdictions, Ave held in that opinion that the refusal to give such requested instruction was not reversible error. In the body of the opinion, it is stated:

“It is the duty of jurors to reason together and harmonize their discordant views where possible. A juror should not consent to a verdict Avhich he thinks is contrary to the evidence out of a mere deference to his fellow jurors. Yet, he may consider whether the doubt which he entertains is a reasonable one which makes no impression on the minds of others equally honest and equally intelligent with himself, who have heard the testimony out of which the doubt arises and he may properly change his vieAvs because of this consideration. In other words, he can properly doubt the correctness of his own opinion when it is not concurred in by his fellow jurors, and may Avithout a \riolation of his oath, consent to a verdict, Avhich he, if he were acting alone, would not render.
“While the court might have, in his discretion, given the requested instruction, yet, his refusal to do so is not error. The majority of the decided cases so hold. Such instruction undoubtedly has a tendency to appeal to an obstinate juror, and the jury room is no place for pride of opinion or obstinancy for the reason that it is the duty of the jurors to discuss the evidence in a spirit of fairness and candor with each other and with an open mind toward the views of their fellow jurors.”

The trial court gave a sufficient statement of the law when he instructed the jury that their verdict must be unanimous and that unless all could agree, no verdict could be returned.

The defendant further contends that the court erred in the instruction which he gave to the jury in connection Avith the defense of temporary insanity. The instructions which Avere given are the same as were given in the case of Roe v. State, 17 Okla. Cr. 587, 191 P. 1048. The Roe *20 case was a well-reasoned opinion which analyzed the statutes on insanity as a defense in criminal cases and reviewed the various decisions of this Court prior to that time. The instructions which were given by the trial court were approved and that decision has been followed by many later decisions of this court. Tittle v. State, 44 Okla. Cr. 287, 280 P. 865; Arms v. State, 49 Okla. Cr. 34, 292 P. 76; Merrick v. State, 56 Okla. Cr. 88, 34 P. 2d 281; Kennemer v. State, 59 Okla. Cr. 146, 57 P. 2d 646; Ex parte Gilbert, 71 Okla. Cr. 268, 111 P. 2d 205.

The record is so lacking in any proof of defendant’s insanity that the court would have been entirely justified in refusing to give any instruction on insanity. In the defendant’s testimony, he relied altogether upon his plea of self-defense.

Under the record, the court was also justified in giving an instruction on manslaughter in the first degree.

Several witnesses testified to the good reputation borne by the defendant in the community where he resided, as a peaceable, law-abiding citizen. On cross-examination of one of these witnesses, a school teacher, counsel asked:

“Q. I am asking you if it was not generally discussed up in that community that he was drunk and intoxicated at the schoolhouse last Christmas? Mr. Sullivan: Comes now the defendant and objects to this line of examination, unless counsel is in good faith in asking the questions and expects to offer proof of same. Court: Yes, sir. Objection will be sustained unless you expect to prove it. * * * Mr. McCuistion: I am not asking anything that I am not in good faith about.”

Counsel then proceeded to inquire about the alleged drunkenness at the schoolhouse to which the witness answered, “I heard that Mr. Gallagher had had a drink.”

*21 On cross-examination of the witness Kent, Chief of Police of Marlow, the following questions were asked:

“Q. I will ask if you didn’t yourself receive a complaint up there in Marlow one time and looked for the defendant. A. I looked for the defendant. Q. You looked for the defendant? A. No, sir. Mr. Sullivan: We now ask counsel if he is in good faith in asking these questions and if not, not to ask those questions. Mr. MeCuistion: If they will permit I will prove it. Q. You know Dr. McLain up there? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you hear about the trouble he had with Dr. McLain? A.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1945 OK CR 59, 159 P.2d 562, 81 Okla. Crim. 15, 1945 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 190, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gallagher-v-state-oklacrimapp-1945.