Roberts v. State

166 P.2d 111, 82 Okla. Crim. 75, 1946 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 168
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 13, 1946
DocketNo. A-10233.
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 166 P.2d 111 (Roberts 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
Roberts v. State, 166 P.2d 111, 82 Okla. Crim. 75, 1946 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 168 (Okla. Ct. App. 1946).

Opinion

JONES, P. J.

The defendant, Jack Roberts, was charged in the district court of Comanche county with the crime of manslaughter in the first degree; was tried, convicted of said offense, and sentenced to serve five years in the State Penitentiary, and has appealed.

This is one of the most tragic cases we have ever reviewed. The defendant, a young man of excellent reputation, was reared on a ranch near Uvalde, Tex. At the outbreak of the recent World War, he enlisted in the United States Army, and was sent for training to Fort Sill, Okla., at which place he was located at the time of the commission of the alleged homicide.

*77 The deceased, Sam Henderson, was a highway patrolman stationed at Lawton, Okla. He was one of the outstanding officers in the patrol and was well liked by all who knew him. The author of this opinion and the deceased attended the University of Oklahoma together and had been close personal friends for 20 years prior to his death. He was a large, impressive appearing man, weighing approximately 275 pounds, and his death has been keenly felt by the members of the Highway Patrol and his many other friends.

The information set forth two counts. The first count charged that the defendant, while operating an automobile in an intoxicated condition, did run into and strike the deceased with such force as to cause his death. The second count charged that the defendant, while operating his automobile in a reckless and careless manner, did drive his automobile into the deceased with such force as to cause his death.

After the conviction of the defendant, by agreement of all parties concerned, he was granted permission to go overseas with his combat unit. Several months ago, the commanding officer of his company wrote this court from overseas, stating that the defendant was one of the outstanding soldiers in his company and inquiring as to what disposition had been made of his appeal. Because the defendant was absent from the state and unable to respond' to any judgment that might be rendered, this court was very liberal in allowing both the representatives of the . state and the defendant considerable additional time in which to file respective briefs. It was only recently that all briefs were filed and the cause submitted for decision.

The original brief presented on behalf of the defendant covered 120 pages and presented many assignments of *78 error. A large part of the brief was devoted to the contention that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction. We shall not make an extensive review of the evidence.

Under the proof of the state, the deceased and his associate patrolman had stopped an automobile driven by one Inks on Lee street, in the city of Lawton, about 10:30 p. m., on May 7, 1941. The patrol car was stopped just behind the Inks car. The two patrolmen and Inks were standing at the rear of the Inks car with the deceased standing slightly to the north of the line of the two cars. The road at that place was muddy and full of chug holes. While they were standing in this position, the automobile driven by the defendant came by at a high rate of speed and struck the deceased with such force that he was killed. The defendant did not stop his automobile, but drove it on to a tavern where he stopped and later caught a taxi back to his barracks at Fort Sill. Upon his arrest two hours later, he was in an intoxicated condition. The two companions, who were traveling in the same car with the defendant at the time of the alleged homicide, testified on behalf of the state. They were friendly to the defendant and both of them swore that they did not know that the defendant had ever struck anything and that he was not intoxicated. They testified, however, that the defendant was driving the car pretty fast and that Lee street was full of chug holes to where they bounced a lot while driving over it. When the defendant and his companion Moore left the automobile at the tavern, the witness Combs remained in the back seat in an intoxicated condition. The state’s proof also showed that the defendant and his companions had been drinking beer at different places during the evening, prior to the time of the alleged homicide. One of the state’s witnesses, who lived on Lee street near *79 the place where the accident occurred, testified that the road Avas narrow at the place of the collision and that there were several deep chug holes along the north side of the road.

On behalf of the defendant, the proof showed that he was not in an intoxicated condition prior to the time of the alleged homicide, but that he had drunk two or three glasses of beer during the three or four hours preceding the commission of the homicide. Witnesses, who saw the defendant at the time he left a dance hall in his automobile just before the deceased Avas struck, SAvore that he did not appear to be under the influence of intoxicating liquor. The defendant’s proof showed that after his automobile allegedly struck the deceased, he drove to the Little Orchid Tavern. That he Avas there several minutes during which he met some soldier friends and drank some whisky with them. That the drinking of this whisky on top of the beer which he had drunk earlier in the evening did cause him to become intoxicated, and that when he was arrested two hours later in his bunk at the military reservation, he was still suffering from the effects of the whisky Avhich he had drunk Avith the other soldiers at the Little Orchid. The defendant himself swore that he did not know that he had ever struck anyone Avith his automobile. He testified that after he came over a rise in the road he saw the tAvo automobiles parked along the road and that he was driving at a pretty fast rate of speed. That he hit a chug hole just as he came near the cars that caused him to veer towards the cars, but that he righted his car and did not know that he had ever hit any one. A large number of witnesses from the State of Texas attended the trial and swore to the good reputation which the defendant bore in his home community.

We have only attempted to make a sufficient sum *80 mary of the evidence to show that the position of the defendant that there was no evidence to sustain the conviction is untenable.

It is contended that the court erred in refusing to give an instruction on manslaughter in the second degree requested by the defendant.

It is well settled that in a prosecution for murder, the court should submit the case to the jury for consideration upon every degree of homicide which the evidence in any reasonable view of it suggests, and, if the evidence tends to prove different degrees, the law of each degree which the evidence tends to prove should be submitted to the jury. Atchison v. State, 3 Okla. Cr. 295, 105 P. 387; Kent v. State, 8 Okla. 188, 126 P. 1940; James v. State, 14 Okla. Cr. 204, 169 P. 1127; Mead v. State, 65 Okla. Cr. 86, 83 P. 2d 404; Hodges v. State, 65 Okla. Cr. 277, 85 P. 2d 443; Tucker v. State, 66 Okla. Cr. 335, 92 P. 2d 595; Clark v. State, 63 Okla. Cr. 138, 73 P. 2d 481; Cooper v. State, 61 Okla. Cr. 318, 67 P. 2d 981; Smith v. State, 59 Okla. Cr. 111, 56 P. 2d 923, 924.

In Smith v. State, supra, it is stated:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Harris v. State
2000 OK CR 20 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 2000)
Robison v. State
677 P.2d 1080 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1984)
Pate v. State
1961 OK CR 45 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1961)
Cody v. State
1961 OK CR 43 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1961)
McNutt v. State
1955 OK CR 101 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1955)
Petty v. State
1955 OK CR 53 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1955)
Heath v. State
1954 OK CR 156 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1954)
Igo v. State
267 P.2d 1082 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1954)
Menefee v. State
1953 OK CR 104 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1953)
Toms v. State
1952 OK CR 2 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1952)
Mott v. State
1951 OK CR 68 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1951)
Seals v. State
1950 OK CR 121 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1950)
Langley v. State
1950 OK CR 7 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1950)
Coats v. State
1949 OK CR 124 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1949)
Walker v. State
1949 OK CR 63 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1949)
Hudman v. State
1949 OK CR 47 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1949)
Ray v. State
1948 OK CR 11 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1948)
Jackson v. State
1947 OK CR 47 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1947)
Sadler v. State
1947 OK CR 37 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1947)
Coslow v. State
1947 OK CR 17 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1947)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 P.2d 111, 82 Okla. Crim. 75, 1946 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 168, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roberts-v-state-oklacrimapp-1946.