Phillips v. State

164 S.W. 1004, 73 Tex. Crim. 317, 1914 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 165
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 18, 1914
DocketNo. 2789.
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 164 S.W. 1004 (Phillips 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
Phillips v. State, 164 S.W. 1004, 73 Tex. Crim. 317, 1914 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 165 (Tex. 1914).

Opinion

PBENDEBGAST, Presiding Judge.

From a conviction of robbery with the lowest penalty assessed appellant prosecutes this appeal. We will make a statement of what the evidence, in effect, shows and justified the jury to believe.

The local option law prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors was in force in Upshur County. Violations of said law were occurring, by different persons, called by some “boot-leggers.” The authorities were anxious to ascertain who the guilty parties were and punish them. The city council of Gilmer, the county seat, the city marshal, the sheriff and county attorney, engaged one W. O. Hayles to ferret out such violations, against some of whom proceedings had been begun and others were to be prosecuted before this offense is alleged to have been committed.. Hayles had not lived at Gilmer but a short time prior to the alleged offense in this case on April 18, 1912. After his said employment he went to work to ferret out and procure evidence against such parties as were guilty. The evidence was sufficient to justify the jury to believe that appellant and his associates had information and knowledge of the work said Hayles was then engaged in; that appellant and several others,—his associates,—entered into a conspiracy among other things, to severely whip or beat said Hayles and run him out of the town and county so as to prevent him from doing the work he was engaged in. Appellant was the proprietor, or worked, in a barber shop in Gilmer. The building was cut into two rooms by a partition clear across about the center, in the center of which partition was a door from the barber shop to the back room. During the evening of April 18th, Fritz Boyd, one *320 of appellant’s associates made an agreement with Hayles for Hayles to meet him early that night in the town at which time ostensibly he would see if he could get some whisky to drink. Hayles met this party that night about dark or just after, near said barber shop when the party invited him up into the barber shop for the purpose of getting and drinking some whisky. Boyd then invited Hayles into said barber shop to take a drink and led the way, Hayles following. When they went into the shop appellant was about his barber chair, having something in his hands connected with that business. Boyd walked up to him and told him they wanted a drink. He laid down whatever he had and said all right, and they then went from the barber shop through said door in said partition into the back room, appellant leading the way. The three, appellant, Boyd and sHayles then went into this back room in the order named. As soon as they got into this back room appellant reached up on a shelf, got a bottle of whisky and glass—an ordinary whisky glass; he poured out a drink in the glass, handed it to Boyd who drank it; he poured out another drink in the same glass and handed it to Hayles, who drank it. He then replaced the glass and bottle on the shelf. There were two bottles on this shelf. Just as this occurred Hayles at once was attracted to other parties in the front room, appellant’s associates. They were then barring or fastening the front door of the barber shop from the inside. Appellant immediately took hold of Hayles’ arm and asked him, “What have you got on you?” He replied, “I haven’t got much of anything.” Appellant said, “You see that rope there?” Hayles said, “Yes, it don’t look like anything but a rope to me.” Appellant said, “By God, you will think it is something but a rope.” Hayles replied, “Well, I might, but that is all it looks like now.” Some one of appellant’s associates then picked up the rope. Fritz Boyd then took hold of Hayles’ other arm, appellant still holding the one he had at first taken hold of. Appellant then said, “You God damn son-of-a-bitch, you, we have trapped you.” Appellant then ran his hand into Hayles’ right hand pocket and took out therefrom Hayles’ knife and at least 50 cents in money which he had therein at the time and put it in his, appellant’s pocket, and kept it. Hayles resisted this with all his might and struggled with appellant and Boyd to get loose and fought them trying to get loose. While in this struggle several others rushed into the back room from the barber shop and someone, Hayles could not tell whom, struck him a severe lick in the back of the side of the head which rendered him unconscious. When he regained consciousness he found himself stretched upon the floor face downward each arm stretched out, appellant on and holding down one arm, and another of his associates the other arm; two .others, each on one of his legs and another on top of him with his knees about his shoulders, holding a cloth over his nose and mouth; still another beating him on his rump and back with a rope. The beating was quite severe rendering said parts of his body red and black from the bruises of the whipping. After thus inflicting this cruel outrageous beating and whipping of him until they were satisfied there *321 with they ceased and helped him up. Appellant and Boyd, on either side, took hold of his arms, raised him up and placed him on his feet. When first beating him it seemed they did so with his clothes on, but towards the last appellant said, “Take the God damned son-of-a-bitch’s breeches down,” which they did and then beat him some more and until appellant said, “That will be enough.” One of appellant’s associate’s, James Beddick, then produced a pistol and presented it in Hayles’ face and. asked him if he saw it. Hayles replied yes. They then asked him, “Can you leave town?” He said, “Well, I can do it.” They said, “Well, you see that. If you are here in the morning, you will get a ball in you. We have got more friends here than they think we have, and you better he gone from here in the morning, if you are not, you will get a ball in you.” Said Beddick was doing that talking. Appellant, at the same time, said, “We have got more friends here than you think we have, and you better be gone in the morning.” They then took him to the front door of the barber shop, opened it, took him out and then again told him as he was leaving, “You better not be here in the morning, if you do you will get a ball in you and you better be God-damn sure to leave.” Hayles said he would he glad to go home and get his clothes; they said, “You can go home and get your clothes, but you better be damned sure you ain’t here in the morning; if you do, you are going to get a ball in you.” Hayles then asked them if he could leave and they told him he ■could. Hayles then at once left and started towards his home; they, or some of the crowd, watched him and still did so until he had gone some distance and got out of sight of the location where the barber shop was. Immediately after leaving and within a short distance and while he was still in sight of these parties, Hayles met the city marshal and said to him, “Follow me,” not stopping, but continuing towards his home. The city marshal did not then understand what had occurred, nor why Hayles told him to follow him, but supposed that he wanted him to keep in sight of him because he thought he would go where some parties were and procure whisky. The city marshal watched him for sometime and saw some others, at least said Beddick also watching Hayles, until Hayles got out of their sight. Hayles proceeded at once to his home and as soon as he could get hold of a telephone, called the deputy sheriff and the city marshal. After some little delay they came to where he was and he told them what had been done to him. They together with him, went to the county attorney’s room, where he slept and had retired and woke him up and told him what had occurred.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
164 S.W. 1004, 73 Tex. Crim. 317, 1914 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 165, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phillips-v-state-texcrimapp-1914.