Phillips v. State

61 S.W.2d 117, 124 Tex. Crim. 260, 1933 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 435
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Phillips v. State. Read the opinion of the Court — 122 Tex. Crim. 568
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas·Decided May 24, 1933·No. No. 15904·Published

Opinions

CALHOUN, Judge.

The offense, murder; punishment, 99 years in the penitentiary.

The appellant was indicted by the grand jury of Tarrant County for the unlawful killing of one E. L. Churchill, and upon application of the appellant for a change of venue the case was transferred from Tarrant County to Stephens County.

The evidence shows that the appellant killed the said E. L. Churchill on March 14, 1932, in the Metropolitan Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas. The appellant’s business was that of a distributor of novelties and he kept his novelties in a room adjoining the lobby of the Metropolitan Hotel. For some time prior to the killing, appellant had been going with and keeping company with one Miss Sally Moore, who was a public stenographer in the hotel, and had become engaged to her. The deceased Churchill was an oil operator and for some time prior to the killing had been living at the Metropolitan Hotel but had been away for a short time prior to the homicide, returning about two days before the killing.

Mrs. Minnie Torbett, a witness for the state, testified to the following effect: She went into the Metropolitan Hotel about 3 [262]*262or 3:30 o’clock on the day of the killing and saw the deceased and Miss Moore sitting at Miss Moore’s desk talking together. The appellant came into the room and spoke to her and then went on out into the lobby. About 15 minutes later he returned and Miss Moore told him there was a package in the lobby for him that came by mail. The appellant then said to Miss Moore, “You are going to get a package from me but it will not come through the mail.” ' The deceased objected to this and took the appellant by the arm and led him towards the ladies’ writing room. He did not go to the street entrance with the appellant and did not strike or hit him but merely told him not to talk that way to his friends. The appellant then went out the side door and the witness and Miss Moore left the hotel. When they got back to the hotel, they learned that the shooting had occurred.

■The state’s testimony further shows that upon leaving the hotel, the appellant went to a pawn shop and rented a pistol. He then went to a garage near the hotel and loaded the pistol and stated to a state’s witness there that he was going to kill a man because of an insult recently perpetrated upon him; that he hated to do it but he was going to have to kill him. He then walked to the hotel and went directly to the deceased, who was talking to the clerk, R. L. Watson, at the clerk’s desk. The appellant placed his arm on deceased’s shoulder and said something to him, the exact words of which the state’s witnesses were unable to testify to 'further than that it was something about the appellant apologizing to the deceased. When the appellant placed his hand on deceased’s shoulder and while the conversation was going on between them, he felt around deceased’s person. The deceased pushed the appellant away from him and told him he did not want to have anything to do with him. The appellant then stepped back, drew his pistol, and fired at the deceased. Deceased fell to the floor in the lobby and the appellant continued to fire some four or five shots inflicting wounds upon the deceased from which the deceased died. The appellant then left the hotel and went to a garage in that vicinity and stated to a city detective that he had just killed a man and put six slugs in the son of a b — .

Appellant’s defense was that he acted in self-defense. He testified that about a year and a half before the killing he had purchased some cigarettes at the Metropolitan Hotel and made some remark to the girl at the stand; that the deceased was talking to the girl at the time and said to the appellant, “Get out of here, you smart Alec. We don’t care for your remarks,” [263]*263and made an advance towards him; that he did not want to have any trouble with the deceased because he was drinking so he left. He further testified that about 3 or 4 months prior to the killing, Miss Moore told him that the deceased had told her that if she was scared to quit going with the appellant that he would take care of that, but that he had said nothing to the deceased in regard to said matter as he did not want to have any trouble with him. He further testified that when he made the remark to Miss Moore about the package coming through the mail he merely meant that he wanted to talk to her about being out with the deceased the Saturday night before; that after he had made the remark to Miss Moore, the deceased grabbed him by the arm and shoulder and twisted his arm behind him and said, “Get out of this hotel, you dirty s— o— b — , and never come around here while I am here any more.” He then turned him loose and as he went out the door the deceased kicked him and told him that if he came back he would have him carried out; that he again met the deceased on the sidewalk in front of the hotel and the deceased said, “God damn you, I meant just what I said.” He then decided to get a gun and come back to the hotel and get his stuff and stay out of there. That when he came back to the hotel he walked up to the deceased and put his arm on his shoulder and said, “Let’s call things square and make friends”; that when he did this, the deceased hit him and knocked him out of the way and said, “You get out of here, G — d— you,” and then reached back and he thought he was going to get a pistol and he stepped back and started firing.

The appellant excepted to the refusal of the court to charge the jury that he would have the right to shoot to kill to prevent the inflicting of death of himself at the hands of the deceased or at the hands of R. L. Watson, if the jury found and believed from the evidence or had a reasonable doubt thereof that it reasonably appeared to the defendant at the time viewed from his standpoint alone that he was in imminent danger of being killed by the deceased or by the deceased and the said R. L. Watson acting in conjunction with each other to kill the defendant. Appellant contends that the evidence showed that deceased and R. L. Watson had entered into a conspiracy against appellant and that the evidence showed that Watson was a principal in the deceased’s attack upon the appellant and it was not necessary that Watson do some overt act at the time of the killing to entitle appellant to a charge on the right of self-defense against the deceased acting either alone or in con june[264]*264tion with Watson because the act of the deceased was the act of Watson.

It has always been the rule in this state that if a defendant presents an affirmative defense it is the duty of the trial court to present this defense in an affirmative charge. We do not believe that the facts of this case bring the instant case within the rule. The appellant’s own testimony shows that he and Watson had been friends for 8 or 10 years. There was no evidence to show that Watson had any particular interest in the deceased or that he was interested in Miss Moore. The appellant’s own testimony further shows that the only trouble he had ever had with Watson was on the Saturday night before the killing, which occurred on Monday. The appellant had been out with Miss Moore from about 6 to 8 o’clock that evening and had left her at her house. He later tried to get her on the telephone but she was not at home and when he called a Mrs. Gifford’s residence Watson answered the phone and told him that he had the wrong number. Later while .he was standing in front of the hotel he saw Miss Moore drive up in a car with Watson and the deceased. Watson got out and the deceased and Miss Moore drove off.

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Phillips v. State, 61 S.W.2d 117, 124 Tex. Crim. 260, 1933 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 435 (Tex. 1933).

61 S.W.2d 117 (Phillips v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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