State v. Butler

227 N.E.2d 627, 11 Ohio St. 2d 23, 40 Ohio Op. 2d 43, 21 A.L.R. 3d 102, 1967 Ohio LEXIS 329
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJune 28, 1967
DocketNo. 40361
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 227 N.E.2d 627 (State v. Butler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Butler, 227 N.E.2d 627, 11 Ohio St. 2d 23, 40 Ohio Op. 2d 43, 21 A.L.R. 3d 102, 1967 Ohio LEXIS 329 (Ohio 1967).

Opinion

Steatjb, J.

The discussion and the determination of the issues presented herein necessarily involve reference to State v. Patterson, 172 Ohio St. 319, decided in June 1961. The facts in the instant causes and the facts in the Patterson case are practically identical and all arose in Stark County, Ohio.

In Patterson, the codefendants, Patterson and Bradley, were indicted under Section 2901.05, Revised Code, for murder in the second degree. Patterson was tried separately. The trial court refused to instruct the jury on the lesser or included offenses of manslaughter in the first degree and manslaughter in the second degree. The jury returned a verdict finding Patterson guilty, as indicted, of murder in the second degree. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court for failure to instruct the jury on the lesser and included offenses of manslaughter in the first degree and manslaughter in the second degree and ordered a new trial. The state and Patterson both appealed to this court and, upon consideration thereof, this court reversed the appellate court,

[25]*25The two-paragraph syllabus of the Patterson case is as follows:

“1. The factual situation in each criminal case determines the necessity of instructing the jury on lesser included offenses rather than the fact that certain offenses are literally included in the crime formally charged in the indictment. (Bandy v. State, 102 Ohio St. 384, approved and followed.)

“2. Even though facts in such a case may warrant instructions to the jury on lesser included offenses, the refusal to so instruct is tantamount to a directed verdict of not guilty of all the lesser included offenses, inures to the defendant’s benefit and is not prejudicial to him.”

In the Patterson opinion the court, applying the first paragraph of the syllabus of that case, affirmed the finding of the Court of Appeals that manslaughter in the first degree was a lesser included offense under the evidence in that case. Strangely enough, however, in the Patterson case, where the undisputed evidence was that three people were killed in a collision resulting from a high-speed drag race by Patterson and his codefend-ant, Bradley, the opinion fails to even mention whether manslaughter in the second degree was a lesser included offense.

Less than four years after Patterson was decided, this court overruled the second paragraph of the syllabus in Patterson in the case of State v. Loudermill, 2 Ohio St. 2d 79, the syllabus of which case is as follows:

“Where the evidence in a criminal case would support a finding by the jury of guilt of a lesser offense included in the offense for which defendant was indicted and tried, the refusal of the trial court to charge upon that lesser included offense is error prejudicial to the rights of defendant. (Paragraph two of the syllabus of State v. Patterson, 172 Ohio St. 319, overruled ; Freeman v. State, 119 Ohio St. 250, and State v. Muskus, 158 Ohio St. 276, approvad and followed.)”

In the causes before us, the state, in a single appeal, appealed from the decisions of the Court of Appeals on the ground that manslaughter in the second degree is not a lesser included offense of the charge in the indictment, murder in the second degree.

The joint indictment in these causes states, as follows;

[26]*26“* * * That Harold Butler and Jerry Anderson late of said county on or about the 8th day of May in the year of onr Lord one thousand nine hundred and sixty-four, at the County of Stark, aforesaid did purposely and maliciously kill Philip Romano contrary to the statute in such cause made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the state of Ohio.”

On request, a bill of particulars was filed by the prosecutor, which states, as follows:

# comes the state of Ohio, having been requested for a bill of particulars, and says that upon the trial of this cause it will prove in addition to the allegations of the indictment, which said allegations are incorporated herein by reference as fully as if rewritten herein in full, the following:

“1. That on or about May 8, 1964, at approximately 10:30 p. m. eastern daylight saving time in Stark County, Ohio, and on or near a certain highway known as state route 44 at a point on said highway approximately 1.1 mile south of the Portage County line, Jerry Anderson and Harold Butler purposely and maliciously killed Philip Romano by operating their respective motor vehicles in such a way that the motor vehicle operated by Jerry Anderson struck a motor vehicle in which Philip Romano was located with such force and violence as to cause the death of Philip Romano;

“2. That Harold Butler used a 1962 Chevrolet and Jerry Anderson used a 1959 Ford in this killing;

“3. That Harold Butler, aided, abetted or procured Jerry Anderson in killing Philip Romano;

“4. That Jerry Anderson aided, abetted or procured Harold Butler in killing Philip Romano.”

Section 4511.18, Revised Code, captioned, “Manslaughter in second degree,” is as follows:

“No person shall unlawfully and unintentionally kill another while violating any law of this state applying to the use or regulation of traffic. Any person violating this section is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree.”

It is contended by the state that since neither the indictment nor the bill of particulars charges the defendants with a violation of a specific traffic law, a verdict by the jury finding the defendants guilty of manslaughter in the second degree [27]*27would be in violation of the constitutional rights of the defendants, citing State v. Yudick, 155 Ohio St. 269, and State v. Yudick, 158 Ohio St. 23. The prosecutor’s concern for the constitutional rights of the defendants is difficult to comprehend, considering that it was the prosecutor who omitted to insert and allege a violation of a specific traffic law in the indictment or bill of particulars. In effect, the prosecutor is claiming error on the part of the Court of Appeals based on a deficiency in the indictment which the prosecutor prepared. This claim by the state as to what factors are essential to determine what is a lesser or included offense disregards entirely the evidence in a case and stresses the importance of the formal charge of the offense in the indictment.

In Patterson, on the issue of lesser and included offenses, the opinion of this court cited Bandy v. State, 102 Ohio St. 384, and quoted therein the first paragraph of the syllabus of that case which reads as follows:

“1. Murder in the first degree, literally considered, necessarily includes murder in the second degree and manslaughter. Whether in an indictment for murder in the first degree in the perpetration of a robbery, a charge is warranted as to murder in the second degree, or manslaughter, depends, however, not merely upon whether or not these are literally included in the formal charge, but upon whether or not there is any evidence tending to support a charge of murder in the second degree, or manslaughter.”

The opinion in Patterson also stated:

“The rule of the Bandy case is to the effect that the facts determine whether a charge must include lesser included offenses. *

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
227 N.E.2d 627, 11 Ohio St. 2d 23, 40 Ohio Op. 2d 43, 21 A.L.R. 3d 102, 1967 Ohio LEXIS 329, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-butler-ohio-1967.