Lovel v. State

248 S.W. 349
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 7, 1923
DocketNo. 7319
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 248 S.W. 349 (Lovel v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lovel v. State, 248 S.W. 349 (Tex. 1923).

Opinions

MORROW, P. J.

The judgment condemns appellant to confinement in the penitentiary for a period of 25 years for the murder of J. N. Hale.

The evidence is circumstantial. This is a synopsis of it: J. N. Hale was a man about 70 years of age, small in stature, of weight estimated from 125 to 140 pounds. In' the month of May preceding his death in September, Hale had traveled in Wilbarger and Wichita counties, returning to Bosque county about the middle of May. While on this journey, -he was seen to have in his possession a considerable sum of money, estimated by the witness at $300 or more. ITe had relatives in Acquilla, Hill county, Tex. He owned a hack: and two small mules, a tent, a trunk, and some camping equipment. He, in company with Burl Allbright, traveling in' this equipage, came to the home of the witness Steele, in Hill county, where they engaged in picking cotton for Steele. The father of Allbright and, as we understand it, some other members of his family, were also on the premises, as was the appellant Lovel. The Allbrights suddenly decided to cease working for Steele and said something about borrowing money from the deceased. The appellant also, without notice to Steele, quit his employment, and he, with the others mentioned, left Steele’s premises on the 7th of September. Appellant was indebted to Steele in the sum of $10, and on that account Steele followed the parties and overtook them on the road near Hillsboro and demanded payment from the appellant. Appellant said that he could not pay it, as he was without ■ funds, but would send the money later. Steele received' the $10 by mail some days subsequent to the interview mentioned and antecedent to the time of the death of Hale. In the interview with Steele about the money, Hale said that he would stand good for it, but Steele told him that it was Lovel that owed the money and not Hale.

The record is silent as to the movements of the appellant and the deceased until they appeared in Ellis county on Tuesday, the 27th day of September. They were alone in the hack, which has -been described, driving the mules. They discussed with the witness Lewis the subject ¿f picking cotton for him. The deceased was inclined to do so. Appellant demurred, however, and insisted that they should go out West, where the cotton was more plentiful. During the same day, they were seen by various witnesses traveling in the same manner at points in the edges of Kaufman and EÍlis counties. In the-evening about 5:30, they were seen by the witness Bobo. He had a conversation with the deceased while the appellant was standing near by. The wagon at the time was stopped and the parties were on the ground. Apparently they were making preparation to camp and were inquiring about water.

On the following morning the wagon was observed on an old road about three- miles from Rice and about six miles from where the witness Bobo saw them the evening before. The harness had been removed and the team was released and was seen in the vicinity. No person was seen about the wagon. On the Friday following, the wagon was inspected by some passers-by and found to contain the body of J, N. Hale. The circumstance was reported and an investigation inaugurated by officers and neighbors. It wa's found that the deceased was lying in the wagon covered with a gunny sack and with a tent; that on top there wore lying two pieces of plank about five or six feet long and six or eight inches wide, and sprinkled with blood. The shirt of the deceased was torn, his feet were bare, his trousers were off, a pair soaked with blood was in the wagon, and his drawers were pulled down over his feet. There was an axe in or near the wagon with blood on the axe and handle. There were buckets of dirt with blood and trash mixed with them, including some sorghum fodder. There was a shovel and a trunk. The body of the deceased was in a state of decomposition, indicating that his death had occured several days prior to the discovery of his body, and on [351]*351the front of Ms head there was a wound apparently made with a blow from the axe. Tt .had crushed the skull and was about the 'size of the back end of the axe found.

On the following day the remains of the camp at the point where the witness Bobo had seen and conversed with the parties on Tuesday was discovered and examined. There were indications that a meal had been cooked. The place where the wagon had stood and a fire built were identified, and some little distance away there was a small pile of sorghum near which there was found blood and gray human hair upon the ground. The ground at this point bore evidence of having been scraped oft and part of the surface removed. The dirt found in the buckets at the wagon was identified as being like that where the scraping had taken place. Between the sorghum stack and the place at the camp fire where the wagon had stood there were tracks made by a man who was shod and indicated that he had passed back and forth several times between the shock of sorghum and the camp fire; that the passage had not been in direct lines, but that there had been several trips. There were also barefoot tracks of a man leading from the camp fire to the shock of sorghum, but no indication of their return. None of the tracks led further than to the shock of sorghum.

Several days after the discovery of the body of Hale, papers belonging to him were found in a mud hole nearby. Some indications that there were some papers there led to the pumping of the water out of the hole, and the papers found bore his name.

The place at which the body of Hale was found was near the town of Bice and near the interurban railroad.

Early in the morning of the 28th of September, the appellant appeared at the town of Ennis in Ellis county and purchased a pair of shoes, a shirt, hat, and a pair of trousers. He paid for them with the $20 bill, receiving the change. He was the first customer at the store that morning. He appeared somewhat nervous and hurried. He bought the articles as they were displayed to him without any effort at selection and made no inquiry as to prices. The witness who saw him took no note of his trousers or his shoes. He noticed that he had on a blue shirt and had a coat on his arm. No blood was noticed on his clothing. 1-Ie took the $20 bill mentioned from a roll of money about 1½ or 2 inches in diameter. The denomination of the bills in the roll was not known by the witness.

There was evidence that the appellant had previously worn tennis shoes; that the deceased was in the habit of carrying his money on his person; that he was secretive about it, and that at times he would put it in his shoes, and, when it became necessary to make a purchase and payment of a small amount, he would turn his back so as not to exhibit the money in Ms possession.

The appellant was arrested somewhere near the town of Bryan, Brazos county, Tex.

[1] The appellant insists that the evidence does not meet the measure demanded by the law with reference to circumstantial evidence. That the deceased was killed by a blow from an axe is not open to question. He was alive and in company with the appellant alone on Tuesday evening. They camped together. Circumstances indicate that they had been together for some time. On the following morning, the wagon in which they had been traveling and the dead body of the deceased were at a point several miles distant from the place at which they had camped on the evening before.

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Related

Zarsky v. State
493 S.W.2d 880 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1973)
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286 S.W.2d 942 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1956)
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13 S.W.2d 80 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1928)
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265 S.W. 553 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1924)

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Bluebook (online)
248 S.W. 349, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lovel-v-state-texcrimapp-1923.