Kelley v. State

190 S.W.2d 159, 190 S.W. 173, 80 Tex. Crim. 249, 1916 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 311
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas·Decided November 1, 1916·No. No. 4251.·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinions

This is an appeal from a conviction of robbery with firearms, and appellant's punishment assessed at ninety-nine years in the penitentiary.

This is the second appeal, the first being reported in79 Tex. Crim. 362, 185 S.W. Rep., 570. The opinion there sufficiently discloses the character of case. No question arises on this appeal on which the judgment was then reversed.

Appellant on this, as on the former trial, pleaded guilty, after being properly and fully admonished by the court of the consequences, and strictly in conformity with the statute. (Art. 565, C.C.P.) He did not testify.

In charging the jury the court gave that which was specially requested by appellant, which, after stating the character of the charge against him by the indictment and the fact that he had pleaded guilty after being duly admonished, etc., as required by the statute, in a separate paragraph told them: "Notwithstanding said plea of guilty has been entered by defendant, yet before you can convict the defendant, you must believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the offense charged. . . ." Then follows a definition of the offense as prescribed by statute, and requires the jury to believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty before they could convict him. Under this charge notwithstanding he pleaded guilty, the State had to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and it was proper that the State should then introduce all the testimony it had to without doubt show his guilt. It could not be held that the State was thereupon merely to introduce only a part *Page 251 of its evidence to show his guilt. It had the right to introduce all of it. The statute (art. 566, C.C.P.) expressly requires that when an accused pleads guilty, if the punishment is not absolutely fixed by law and beyond the discretion of the jury to graduate the punishment in any manner, a jury shall be empaneled to assess the punishment "and evidence submitted to enable them to decide thereupon."

It has uniformly and in a great many cases been held by this court, and it is the law, that the State may prove the flight, or attempted flight, of the defendant and the attendant circumstances as a fact to help show the guilt of the defendant. Sec. 135, 1 Branch's Ann. P.C., p. 78, and the cases there collated.

It is equally well settled that where a party is arrested, or sought to be arrested, for an offense, and he resists arrest, it is a legitimate fact to be proved. Mitchell v. State,52 Tex. Crim. 37; Moreno v. State, 71 Tex.Crim. Rep.; 2 Jones on Ev., sec. 287.

There are quite a number of bills of exceptions herein. It is unnecessary to discuss each separately. A number of them present the same question, or such a kindred question, as that the questions can be determined without separately discussing each bill.

The State introduced several police officers, who participated in arresting appellant a few hours only after the commission of the offense, and each testified to such a state of facts as to unquestionably show that appellant both attempted to flee and also that he resisted arrest when they undertook to arrest and did arrest him for the offense charged. Each of appellant's first several bills quotes in full both on direct and cross-examination the testimony of each of these witnesses on the points stated and states that he objected to the whole of the testimony of each on the ground that it was immaterial, irrelevant, proved another and different offense committed by appellant at another and different time and place, was no part of the res gestae of the offense herein, but that if it was admissible for any purpose, it was not competent or proper for the State to prove the details and minute circumstances surrounding and accompanying the same. The court in qualifying each of these bills stated that the testimony of said respective officers was admitted for the purpose of showing flight and attempted flight and resistance of an arrest and the circumstances surrounding his arrest on the charge herein. On the previous appeal we correctly and specially held that this testimony was admissible. The bills in no way point out, or attempt to point out, what the details and minute circumstances were which he claimed were inadmissible. Unquestionably, the testimony of each of these officers not only tended to show, but did actually show, that appellant, as stated, attempted flight and resisted arrest when these officers sought to arrest him for the heinous crime so recently committed by him, and for that reason their testimony was clearly admissible. If there were any details and minute circumstances in their testimony which were inadmissible, it was the duty of the appellant at the time to specifically object to that *Page 252 part and point it out in his bill, which he did not do. The law is well settled that where evidence is introduced over objection and some of it is admissible and some of it is not, but all is objected to, no error is shown. It is necessary that the objectionable part must be specially pointed out and objected to instead of objecting to the whole. Sec. 211, 1 Branch's Ann. P.C., p. 135; Boone Martin, 188 S.W. Rep., 1000, recently decided, wherein we collated and cited the authorities on this point. So that none of appellant's bills on this subject show any error.

Appellant has other bills to the refusal of the judge to give special charges requested by him. These we consider together. In one, he wanted the judge to instruct the jury that unless they believed beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers arresting him made known to him the authority under which they were acting, their identity and the reason for his arrest, it was not unlawful for him to resist such arrest; and if they had a reasonable doubt concerning the officers, or either of them, making known to him their authority and the reason for his arrest, then the resistance on his part was legal.

In another, he wanted the court to charge the jury that the law requires that in making arrests the officer shall always make known to the accused person, if he has time or opportunity, under what authority the arrest is made and the reason for his arrest.

The judge, in qualifying these bills, stated: "The testimony shows that at the time the officers knocked on the door of Kelly's room at the Williams Hotel that Kelly opened the door, looked out, and almost immediately began to shoot; that police officer Eimicke was shot before he entered said room, and that Kelly continuously from the time he opened said door shot at police officer Frank Smith until said officer left said room.

"The testimony further shows that after the witness Smith had left Kelly's room that Kelly slammed the door, went to the window and looked out on the sidewalk, that police officer Stepp was standing just below said window on the sidewalk, that said Stepp was in full uniform, that there was plenty of light where he was standing, and that Kelly discharged his pistol in the direction of Stepp, the bullet striking the sidewalk about three feet from where Stepp was standing.

"The testimony of C.M. Foraker discloses the fact that in addition to police officer Stepp, police officer Yeager was also on the sidewalk and visible from the window, and that said Yeager was in full police uniform.

"The testimony further shows that the witness C.M. Foraker, subsequent to the firing of the shot of the defendant, Kelly, that struck the sidewalk near police officer Stepp, that the defendant, Kelly, put his head out of the window, and that officer Foraker shot at him, the bullet going through the defendant, Kelly's, hat.

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Kelley v. State, 190 S.W.2d 159, 190 S.W. 173, 80 Tex. Crim. 249, 1916 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 311 (Tex. 1916).

190 S.W.2d 159 (Kelley v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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