Lane v. State

1938 OK CR 107, 84 P.2d 807, 65 Okla. Crim. 192, 1938 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 98
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 3, 1938
DocketNo. A-9486.
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 1938 OK CR 107 (Lane 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
Lane v. State, 1938 OK CR 107, 84 P.2d 807, 65 Okla. Crim. 192, 1938 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 98 (Okla. Ct. App. 1938).

Opinion

BAREFOOT, J.

The defendant was charged in the district court of Osage county with the crime of assault with a dangerous weapon, was convicted and sentenced to serve a term of two years in the penitentiary, and has appealed.

The first assignment of error is that the court erred in giving instruction No. 10, which is as follows:

“You are instructed that if you find from the evidence, facts and circumstances in proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant herein armed himself for the purpose of making an assault upon the prosecuting witness, with the intention then and there existing in his mind to kill or do great bodily harm to the prosecuting witness, and if you further find that under such situation he pointed the gun at the prosecuting witness with the result that said gun was accidentally discharged, then and under such circumstances the fact, if you find it to be a fact — that said gun was accidentally discharged would be no defense to the commission of the crime charged in the information.”

This instruction should be considered together with all the instructions given by the court, and especially with instruction No. 9, which was as follows:

“The defendant herein claims that, upon the occasion complained of in the information, he armed himself for the purpose of defending himself against an assault upon the part of the prosecuting witness; and that, while so armed, he accidentally discharged his gun, which resulted in the injury to the prosecuting witness.
“In this connection, you are told that under the law of this state, every person has the right to defend themselves from an attack or threatened attack from any person or persons. And in this connection, you are told that if the defendant herein, in good faith, armed himself for the purpose of defending himself against an attack upon the part of the prosecuting witness and that the gun which he held in his hands was accidentally or unintentionally discharged, without any unlawful intent upon *194 the part of the defendant to kill or injure the prosecuting witness, then and under such circumstances it would be your duty to find the defendant not guilty.”

It will be noted that in instruction No. 9, the court, in a clear and concise manner, presented to the jury defendant’s theory and contention. He informed the jury that if defendant armed himself for the purpose of defending himself from an assault by the prosecuting witness, and that while so armed, he accidentally discharged his gun without any unlawful intent on his part, and the prosecuting witness was injured thereby, that it would be the duty of the jury to find the defendant not guilty. By instruction No. 10, the court informed the jury that if defendant armed himself for the purpose of making an assault upon the prosecuting witness and that there existed in his mind the intention of killing, or doing great bodily harm, and as a result of this he pointed the gun at the prosecuting witness and it was accidentally discharged, that this would be no defense to the commission of the crime charged in the information. This is a true statement of law and does not, in our opinion, place the burden of proof upon the defendant, nor does it take away the right of the jury to pass upon the question of intent. It leaves the jury to pass upon the question of intent as presented by the facts in this case. Where the defense is based upon accidental death or injury to come within the terms of the statute of excusable homicide by misadventure all of the authorities agree that three elements must be present. First. The act resulting in death or injury must be a lawful one. Second. It must be done with reasonable care and due regard for the lives and persons of others. Third. And the killing must be accidental and not intentional. All of these elements must exist before the defendant is entitled to the protection of the statute on accidental death by misadventure. The rule is stated in 30 C.J., p. 88, as follows:

*195 “Even though the homicide is unintentional, it is not excusable where it is the result or incident of an unlawful act, such as pointing or presenting a gun, pistol or other firearm at another person in such a manner as to constitute an offense under the laws of the state.” Wharton on Homicide, sec. 358, p. 571; Barnes v. State, 134 Ala. 36, 32 So. 670; State v. Benham, 23 Iowa, 154, 92 Am. Dec. 416, 417; Sanders v. State, 16 Ala. App. 511, 79 So. 504; Lundsford v. State, 2 Ala. App. 38, 56 So. 89; Lewis v. State, 96 Ala. 6, 11 So. 259, 38 Am. St. Rep. 75; People v. Venckus, 278 Ill. 124, 115 N.E. 880; McDaniel v. State, 156 Ala. 40, 46 So. 988, 21 L.R.A. (N.S.) 678, 130 Am. St. Rep. 74; State v. Reese, 25 Del. 434, 2 Boyce 434, 79 A. 217; Kent v. State, 8 Okla. Cr. 188, 126 P. 1040; Palmer v. State, 17 Okla. Cr. 220, 187 P. 502.

The statute of this state makes it unlawful to point a gun at another. Section 2591, Okla. Stats. 1931, Okla. St. Ann., tit. 21, § 1279.

We have carefully examined the cases cited in defendant’s brief and they lay down the rule that there must be a felonious intent to commit a crime, but they are in no way in conflict with the rule above announced. The court in the instant case instructed the jury under section 1873, Okla. Stats. 1931, Okla. St. Ann., tit. 21, § 652, as charged in the information, where one attempts to shoot at another with intent to kill, and also instructed the jury under section 1870, Okla. Stats. 1931, Okla. St. Ann., tit. 21, § 645, where one commits an assault upon the person of another, or shoots at another with intent to injure another such person, but without intent to kill. The jury found the defendant guilty under the last charge and his punishment was assessed thereunder. Crain v. State, 24 Okla. Cr. 343, 217 P. 888. From an examination of the court’s instructions as a whole, we do not find that defendant was prejudiced thereby. They fairly presented the law of the case and gave to the defendant every right which he had under the law.

*196 It is next contended by the defendant that the court erred in refusing to grant the motion for continuance filed in this case. The motion was as follows:

“Comes now the defendant and moves the court to continue the case against him for the following reasons:
“1. That he has heretofore caused a subpoena to be issued for the witnesses Earl Thomas and Bell Thomas, and that subpoena has not been returned so that the defendant is unable to state whether the witnesses have been served or not, but they are not present and defendant says that he has been informed that they are not in Osage county. That he has been served with a copy of a statement given by them, which statement is different from the sworn testimony of the witnesses given at the preliminary hearing, and that said testimony is material and competent and can not be proven by any other witness and that if present the said witnesses would testify substantially as follows:
“ ‘That they were present at the time of the alleged shooting, and that the said Beebe Morton was advancing upon the said Joe Lane in a menacing manner and had followed said Joe Lane into the house and had threatened him and was attempting to carry out said threat at the time of the shooting.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1938 OK CR 107, 84 P.2d 807, 65 Okla. Crim. 192, 1938 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 98, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lane-v-state-oklacrimapp-1938.