Lott v. State

1950 OK CR 127, 223 P.2d 147, 92 Okla. Crim. 324, 1950 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 291
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 11, 1950
DocketA-11250
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 1950 OK CR 127 (Lott 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
Lott v. State, 1950 OK CR 127, 223 P.2d 147, 92 Okla. Crim. 324, 1950 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 291 (Okla. Ct. App. 1950).

Opinion

POWELL, J.

The plaintiff in error, Homer Lott, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged by information filed in the district court of Osage county with the crime of assault with a dangerous weapon, was tried, convicted, and sentenced to serve a term of 18 months in the State Penitentiary. Appeal has been duly perfected to this court.

The information was drawn under section 1870, O.S. 1931, Tit. 21 O.S.A. § 645, reading as follows:

“Every person who, with intent to do bodily harm, and without justifiable or excusable cause commits any assault upon the person of another with any sharp or dangerous weapon, or who, without such cause, shoots or attempts to shoot another, with any kind of firearm or airgun or other means whatever, with intent to injure any person, although without intent to kill such person or to commit any felony, is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding five years, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year.”

The information, among other allegations, provides:

“ * * * on or about the 15th day of September, 1948, in said county and state, the defendant, Homer Lott, then and there being, did then and there wrongfully, unlawfully and feloniously commit the crime of felonious assault with a dangerous weapon in the manner and form as follows, to-wit:
“That is to say that said defendant, Homer Lott, then and there being and within the jurisdiction of this court, did on or about the 15th day of September, 1948, unlawful *327 ly, wrongfully and feloniously commit an assault and battery upon the persons named as follows, to-wit: Francis E. Cooper, Joe Benton Allen, William Clarence DeVoy, and Thomas Smith Mathes, by means of such force as likely to produce great bodily harm and injury or death; that is to say that the said defendant was then and there driving and propelling a 1941 Dodge Pickup automobile in a dangerous and reckless manner while under the influence of intoxicating liquor; and while so driving on East Main Street, being a public highway at all times herein mentioned, and at a point on said street approximately sixty (60) feet west of Revard Avenue intersecting said street in the city of Pawhuska, Oklahoma, did then and there propel said automobile over and against another automobile on the same highway being driven by Francis E. Cooper, then and there and thereby causing a collision between said automobiles, and throwing the occupants of the said automobile being driven by the said Francis E. Cooper and himself from their normal seats in and about the said automobile in which they were riding, and propelling and hurling them by force against the body of the automobile in which they were riding, cutting them with shattered glass and otherwise injuring them to the following extent, to-wit: the said Francis E. Cooper being cut and lacerated about the head and face and body; * * * with the unlawful and felonious intent * * etc.

The undisputed evidence in this case discloses that around midnight on September 15, 1948, the defendant drove his 1941 Dodge Pickup automobile west along Main street in the city of Pawhuska at a high and reckless rate of speed; that one Bill Fish was in the front seat with the driver and that a young man, Thomas Mathes, whom Fish had invited to ride, was in the bed of the pickup; that defendant was driving, from the county fair, which was being held three and one-half miles south of Paw-huska; defendant had stopped at the stop sign where he turned into Main street, but speeded up his car and was *328 driving at a terrific rate of speed down. Main street and at a point close to the Bock Apartments in tlie business part of the city he left the north side of the street as he drove west and crashed into a Ford Tudor car being driven east at a slow rate of speed by Francis Cooper, and in which car were two A. & M. College students, William Clarence DeVoy and Joe Benton Allen. There was a terrific impact between the pickup and the Cooper car and all occupants of the Ford car were seriously injured and two of the boys were knocked unconscious; the two passengers in the defendant’s car were seriously injured, but the defendant was the least injured of all. The undisputed and conclusive evidence developed that defendant was drunk at the time he drove his car into the Ford car and had been observed at the county fair by the driver of the Ford car and by other witnesses a few minutes prior to the collision, and in a drunken condition. At the hospital the physician had to obtain the aid of officers to quiet defendant, who was using obscene language, was resisting being ministered to by the medical attendants.

The defendant testified, and did not deny any of the testimony of witnesses for the state, but, on the other hand, in an apparent effort to overcome the allegations in the information and possible deductions to be drawn from the victim, Cooper having observed the way in which he had shortly prior to the collision been conducting himself at the fair, and to overcome the allegation in the information of “unlawful and felonious intent,” sought to show by his testimony that he was so drunk at the time he ivas driving the pickup and collided with the Ford car that he did not know what he was doing, if in fact he was driving his pickup. He did admit, however, that he remembered stopping at the stop sign on *329 Main street and observed a “scooter” that be passed jnst prior to driving into tbe car being driven by Francis E. Cooper. However that may be, there is no evidence in tbe record tending to prove actual and conscious intent on tbe part of tbe defendant to run bis pickup into tbe Cooper car other than might be inferred from tbe fact that be did actually drive bis pickup from tbe north side of Main street over about three feet past tbe center of tbe street and into tbe Cooper car, and there was no evidence of defendant having any mechanical or other trouble with bis car that could have placed it out of control. On tbe other band, tbe evidence conclusively indicated that defendant bad complete control of bis car, from a mechanical standpoint; indicated drunkenness, reckless driving and a wanton disregard for tbe safety of other motorists as well as pedestrians along Main street in Pawhuska.

Although some ten specifications of error are set out in petition in error, counsel for defendant in brief reduce their contentions to the proposition:

“Tbe question presented here is, does proof of culpable negligence in these cases take tbe place of intent to do bodily barm? And, did tbe court properly define culpable negligence?”

In their brief counsel criticize a number of tbe instructions given by tbe court, and state that they excepted to instruction 12 defining culpable negligence, and instruction 16 concerning intent, but tbe record filed in this court fails to so show, and of course tbe record made at tbe time as disclosed by tbe transcribed notes of tbe reporter prevail. Counsel argue:

“Indeed it is very apparent that tbe trial court considered that there was no evidence of such intent from tbe fact that he instructed the jury that culpable negligence on tbe part of tbe defendant took tbe place of actual *330 intent.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1950 OK CR 127, 223 P.2d 147, 92 Okla. Crim. 324, 1950 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 291, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lott-v-state-oklacrimapp-1950.