Hamilton v. State

47 S.W. 695, 101 Tenn. 417
Tennessee Supreme Court·Decided October 26, 1898·Published·Cited by 18 cases

Opinion

Wilkes, J.

Defendant is convicted of murder in second degree, and sentenced for twenty years, and has appealed. It is objected that one of the jurors who tried him was related within the sixth degree to the prosecutor, who was also an important witness. No challenge was made of the juror when offered, but on motion for a new trial defendant made affidavit of the fact, and that he did not know of it when the juror was sworn. A juror is disqualified to serve when he is related to the defendant or to the prosecutor within the sixth degree, computing by the civil law. It is conceded that the juror was related in the sixth degree to the prosecutor. The term “within,” as a limit of time or space or degree, embraces the last day or degree or entire distance covered by the limit. 29 Am. & [419] Eng. Ene. L., 524; 26 Am. & Eng. Eno. L., 4. The juror was, therefore, incompetent. Can this avail the defendant on his motion for a new trial, and on appeal to this Court? If a partial juror serves on the same, it is ground for new trial if the partiality was unknown to defendant when the juror was sworn. Riddle v. State, 3 Heis., 401; Brakefield v. State, 1 Sneed, 215; Norfleet v. State, 4 Sneed, 340; Goodall v. Thurman, 1 Head, 209; Johnson v. State, 11 Lea, 47; Draper v. State, 4 Bax., 246; Cartright v. State, 12 Lea, 620; Parrish v. State, 12 Lea, 655; Hoard v. State, 15 Lea, 318; Spencer v. State, 15 Lea, 539. But if the fact is known to the defendant, and no objection is made before the jury is sworn, it is not ground for new trial. Cantrell v. State, 2 Shan., 249; Finkle v. Dunivant, 16 Lea, 503. But our cases are uniform, that after the jury is sworn, new trial will not be granted because of the want of general qualification of the juror propter defecPum, and this is held even though the defendant was ignorant of the fact when the juror was selected. McClure v. State, 1 Yer., 206; Gillespie v. State, 8 Yer., 507; Ward v. State, 1 Hum., 253; Calhoun v. State, 4 Hum., 477; Cartright v. State, 12 Lea, 620. The latter case is directly in point, and draws the distinction between the cases when a juror is incompetent propter de-fectum and when he is incompetent because he has prejudged the case. Id., p. 628.

[420] It might have been within the sound discretion of the trial Judge to have granted .a new trial, upon this or any other ground which, in his opinion, prejudiced the defendant’s right to a fair and impartial trial, but there appeared no evidence of partiality to the prosecutor, or collusion with him, or of prejudice against the defendant in the selection of this juror, and’ in his denial of relationship to the prosecutor, as it is made to appear that he mistook the name of the prosecutor when it was -called upon his examination, and, moreover, the fact of relationship was of so little consequence to 'him that he could not state whether he was related or not, except from, rumor or hearsay.

It is next insisted that defendant is not guilty, but that he killed his antagonist in self-defense. The case has been to this Court before, when a death sentence .'for the offense was reversed for an inadvertent error in the charge of. the Court. See case reported in 13 Pickle, 452. Upon the remand, there was a mistrial, and then the present conviction. The homicide was committed in October, 1895. The deceased, Walter Hansard, and the defendant were paying attentions to the same young lady, and bad blood had developed in their rivalry, and had continued for a year or more, during which time they had quarrels. The homicide occurred on Monday. On Sunday night previous each of the young men had gone to the same country church, each with a different young lady. The defendant and the young lady he was [421] with were sitting next to a window, when deceased approached from the outside and turned the slats in the blinds. The defendant moved over next to the window, between it and the young lady, and spat out of the window. The deceased thereupon called him a “son of a bitch.” Defendant got up and went out of the church, and he and the deceased went off into the woods together to settle their quarrel, but they returned without having any difficulty. After service was concluded, they each started home with his young lady, but defendant, after going with his a short distance, left her, and went a road that did not lead to her home, nor to his, but by the home of the deceased. The parties were both armed, but defendant did not intercept the deceased, and no further trouble -occurred that night. On the next day defendant went to a store in the neighborhood, bought some cartridges, and freshly loaded his pistol. He then passed along the public road near which deceased lived. This was not his direct road home. Deceased was engaged, near the road, handling some hay or fodder at his uncle’s barn. Defendant was accompanied by a friend, named Butcher. He called to the deceased to come down to the road, and deceased came in his shirtsleeves. Some words passed. Defendant asked deceased if he meant, the night before, to call him a “son of a bitch.” Deceased replied that he did, and that he was one, adding an additional epithet..

■ Up to this point there is no material difference in [422] the testimony. There were four eye-witnesses to the killing, three of whom were related to deceased and testified for the State. One, the man Butcher, testified for the defendant. The theory of the defendant is that, when ' deceased came down to the road and the quarrel was renewed, deceased put his hands upon the fence and mounted it, and, throwing one leg over it, turned his side to defendant, and ran his right hand in his pants- pocket in a menacing manner, whereupon he shot. There were five shots fired by the defendant. Deceased was not armed, except that in his right pocket he had an ordinary knife. The theory of the State is that the deceased merely placed his hands on the fence, but did not attempt to cross it, when defendant drew his pistol; that deceased- thereupon ran off up the hill, toward the barn and other houses, and defendant fired at him as he ran, and, when deceased reached a point opposite the barn, he turned to the left, to get behind the house, and at this point the last of the five shots was fired. Two shots took effect. One was in the leg, entering directly behind; the other in the, side, passing through the forepart of the arm into the body, and this was the fatal one.

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Hamilton v. State, 47 S.W. 695, 101 Tenn. 417 (Tenn. 1898).

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