Provisional Government v. Caecires

9 Haw. 522
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 17, 1894
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 9 Haw. 522 (Provisional Government v. Caecires) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Provisional Government v. Caecires, 9 Haw. 522 (haw 1894).

Opinion

Opinion op the Court, by

Judd, C.J.

The defendant was indicted at the May Term, 1894, of the Circuit Court, First Circuit, for murder in the second degree in killing one James Kauhane on the 19th of February, 1894. He was found guilty by the jury and sentenced. Before pleading, his counsel, J. A. Magoon, Esq., moved to quash the indictment on several grounds.

The indictment is as follows :

“ The Attorney-General of the Hawaiian Islands, on behalf of the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands, upon his official oath, presents that Joseph Caecires, a foreigner by birth, of Honolulu, in the island of Oahu, at Honolulu in the island of Oahu, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, on the ninteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nine-four, with force and arms, feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought, and without authority, justification or extenuar tion by law did kill and murder one James Kauhane, and did then and there and thereby commit the crime of murder in the second degree contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided.
“And so the Attorney-General aforesaid, upon his official oath aforesaid, doth further say and present that the said Joseph Caecires, a foreigner by birth, of Honolulu, in th’e island of Oahu, at Honolulu, in the island of Oahu and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, on the nineteenth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four; with force [524]*524and arms, in and upon one James Kauliane, feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought without authority, justification or extenuation by law did make an assault with a certain knife, and the said James Kauhane then and there did strike, stab, cut, wound and beat, then and there and thereby giving to the said James Kauhane certain mortal wound or wounds, of which said mortal wound or wounds the said James Kauhane, from the said nineteenth day of February to the twentieth day of said February, at Honolulu aforesaid, did suffer and languish, and languishing did live, on which said twentieth day of February aforesaid, in the year aforesaid, at Honolulu aforesaid, he, the said James Kauhane, of the -wound or wounds aforesaid, died.
“ And so the Attorney-General aforesaid, upon his official oath aforesaid, doth say and present that the said Joseph Caecires, him the said James Kauhane in manner and form aforesaid, then and there, feloniously, willfully and of his ■malice aforethought, and without authority, justification or extenuation by law, did kill and murder, and did then and there and thereby commit the crime of murder in the second degree, contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided.”

The motion to quash is as follows: “ Now comes defendant in the above entitled cause by his attorney J. Alfred Magoon, and moves to quash the indictment therein for -the reasons.

“1st. That it is not alleged in said indictment that the defendant did strike, stab, cut, wound and beat James Kauhane.

“ 2d. That it is not alleged in said indictment that the wounds of which said Kauhane died were inflicted by a knife in the hand of and wielded by defendant.

“ 3rd. That the description of the crime of which defendant is charged in said indictment is murder in the second degree, whereas the said indictment' purports to be for murder in the first degree.

[525]*525“4th. That the indictment charges the defendant with no indictable crime under the law.

“ And that the said indictment is in other respects uncertain and insufficient.”

Eeference to the indictment will show that the object of the verbs, “assault, strike, stab, cut, wound,” etc., is “James Kauhane,” though placed before the verbs. This is not an unusal method of constructing a sentence. The subject of the verb is the defendant and the object is James Kauhane, and we find that it is alleged in the indictment that the defendant Joseph Caecires did assault, strike, cut, stab, wound, etc., James Kauhane.

We overrule the second ground without comment, as it needs none.

We answer the third objection to the indictment by stating that in omitting the statutory words “ deliberate, premeditated ” before the word “ malice ” the indictment charges murder in the second degree. See Chap. LXXL, Laws of 1890.

Under the last ground of the motion to quash it is claimed' that the statute, pages 342 and 343 of the Compiled Laws, is contrary to Article 7 of the Constitution of 1887, which requires that an indictment shall “ fully and plainly ” describe the offense. The statute is as follows :

“In an indictment for murder or manslaughter or for being an accessory to any murder or manslaughter, it shall not be necessary to set forth the manner in which or the means by which the death of the deceased was caused, but it shall be sufficient in any indictment for murder to charge that the defendant did feloniously, willfully, and of his malice aforethought, kill and murder the deceased.”

We are not to consider questions as to the constitutionality-of a statute unless they are essential to the decision of the’ ca-se. And it is not necessary here, for the second count of the indictment, in our opinion, meets the requirements of the constitution that the crime must be fully and plainly [526]*526described, and we pass by the question whether or not the first statutory count of the indictment does.

We overrule the exceptions to tlie motion to quash.

In order to understand the points raised by the bill of exceptions, the facts of this homicide must be presented, and we condense them from the testimony sent up, as follows : On the 19th February last, in Honolulu, a Chinaman reported to two detective police officers, James Kauhane and Kaouli by name, that opium would be brought ashore that evening by a foreigner from the bark S. C. Allen, then lying at Brewer’s wharf. The informant accompanied the officers to near the foot of Maunakea street, and as the defendant made his appearance from the direction of the vessel, told the officers that he was the man and then went off. The officers let defendant pass them, up Maunakea street, they following defendant who crossed diagonally from one side of the street to the other side, walking rapidly and looking back occasionally and the officers walking after him, they having agreed between them that they would not arrest defendant until he was nearer the electric light on King street, so. that they could see where, he should go if he attempted to escape. Before fhe light was reached Kaouli went a little ahead of Kauhane, and when he had nearly reached defendant, defendant started to run and Kaouli jumped forward and caught defendant by both wrists from behind. Defendant swung his hands behind him and drew Kaouli up to him. Immediately Kauhane came up, brushed Kaouli aside and seized defendant firmly and in the struggle both fell into the gutter close to the sidewalk, Kauhane on top. Kaouli felt, just as Kauhane came up, that he was getting faint and dizzy, and discovered that he had been cut. He says he was cut on his leg before Kauhane pushed him aside, and upon his arm just as he was pushed aside. As Kauhane was struggling with defendant and before they fell, he, Kauhane, called to Kaouli to seize defendant which he did, and pushed him on to the hydrant.

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Bluebook (online)
9 Haw. 522, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/provisional-government-v-caecires-haw-1894.