State v. Churchill

100 P. 309, 52 Wash. 210, 1909 Wash. LEXIS 1098
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 19, 1909
DocketNo. 7433
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 100 P. 309 (State v. Churchill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington 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. Churchill, 100 P. 309, 52 Wash. 210, 1909 Wash. LEXIS 1098 (Wash. 1909).

Opinion

Gose, J.

The defendant was charged with the crime of murder in the first degree. The jury found him guilty of the crime of manslaughter. From a judgment on the verdict he prosecutes this appeal.

Seventeen errors are assigned, which will be treated in the order in which they are presented.

(1) “The court erred in permitting the details of the fight between Churchill and Zeigler, which took place in the Eagle saloon on the afternoon of the killing, to be received in evidence against defendant’s objections.” The objection is not well taken; (1) because the evidence admitted simply showed that a fight occurred between deceased and the appellant a few hours before the homicide, and that the deceased was the aggressor; (2) it was admissible as a circumstance fi’om which the jury might infer malice on the part of the appellant; (3) if we concede that it was error, it was harmless in that it was favorable to the appellant, and does not require reversal. 1 Bishop, New Criminal Procedure, § 1276.

“It would have been proper upon the part of the prosecution in establishing its case in chief to have proven previous trouble between these parties, for the purpose of showing the existence of malice in the heart of the defendant when the killing took place. Such being the fact, it was certainly entirely proper for the prosecution to examine into the question, when it had already been touched upon bjr the defense. If the inquiry addressed to the woman as to the nature of this trouble to which she referred had developed the fact that a physical encounter had at some time in the past taken place between these men, the competency and admissibility [213]*213of such evidence could not be questioned for a moment. Such being the rule of law, it is evident that the question asked was entirely proper. If it be conceded, for present purposes only, that the answer went too far, and entered too much into detail, then defendant’s remedy was by motion to strike out, and an exception to the ruling of the court in allowing the question would not meet the difficulty. To indicate the state of mind of the defendant at the time of the killing, the prosecution is always entitled to show any previous difficulties or troubles that have arisen between the parties, and this showing is not limited to physical encounters, but may consist solely in an affray of words; and this character of evidence is admissible, however much it may tend to disgrace and injure the defendant in the estimation of the jury. An objection to its admission upon such ground is not at all tenable. At the same time, this character of evidence may not be introduced in detail.” People v. Colvin, 118 Cal. 349, 50 Pac. 539.

(2) “The state, against the objection of the defendant, was permitted by the court to go into full details of the fight between the deceased and the defendant in the Eagle saloon; but, when defendant endeavored to go into details of this fight, the state objected and the court rejected the evidence, to which the defendant excepted.” This assignment is without merit, for the following reasons: (1) We have shown that the details of the fight were not presented to the jury by the state; (2) the conversation between the deceased and the barkeeper was not part of the res gestae; (3) the appellant was permitted to go into details of the fight occurring in the afternoon preceding the homicide, and present evidence to the jury showing that the deceased violently threw a beer glass on the bar, turned to the appellant, who theretofore had not spoken to him, thereupon applied an abusive epithet to the appellant, and then struck him.

(3) “The court erred in permitting Mrs. Anna Zeigler, the wife of the deceased, to testify that her husband did not own a revolver.” The appellant admitted the killing, but [214]*214justified on the ground of self-defense. The testimony is without conflict in that it shows that the deceased was the aggressor. Practically all the witnesses testified that at the time of the shooting the deceased was advancing toward the appellant. There is evidence tending to show that at such time the deceased had his right hand behind him as if in the act of drawing a weapon. The right of self-defense is grounded upon two elements; (1) that the party attacked may use sufficient force to offset the actual danger; (2) that he may use sufficient force to offset the apparent danger. The evidence was admissible as a circumstance tending to prove, (1) that the appellant was not in any actual danger. State v. Lattin, 19 Wash. 57, 52 Pac. 314; 6 Ency. Evidence, 758; 21 Cyc. 970-1; (2) that the deceased was not armed at the time of the fatal encounter. Moreover, the appellant had théretofore interrogated one of the state’s witnesses as follows:

“Question: Did you see anybody search his [deceased’s] pockets? Answer: No, sir. Q. Did vou see anybody take anything from the pockets or from the person? A. No, sir.”

This cross-examination could have had only one purpose, viz., to impress upon the minds of the jury the belief that some one took some weapon from the pockets of the deceased just after the killing. The examination of Mrs. Anna Zeiglér upon this point was as follows: “Q. Now, during all the time that you lived in or about North Yakima, did or did not ever your husband own a revolver? A. No, sir.”

In People v. Powell, 87 Cal. 348, 361, 25 Pac. 481, 11 L. R. A. 75, it is said:

“The prosecution was allowed, over the objection of the defendant, to prove in rebuttal that the deceased was not in the habit of carrying arms; that on various occasions he had so stated; and that, on the morning of the shooting, he had refused to go armed, when it was suggested that he had better do so. We have looked in the transcript in vain for any evidence on the part of the defendant which could justify [215]*215or call for such evidence in rebuttal. There was evidence tending to show that the defendant believed the deceased to have been armed at the time he shot him. This rendered it competent for the prosecution to prove that, as a matter of fact, he was not armed at that time,.....”

(4) “The court erred in permitting the state in its case in chief to introduce the clothing worn by the deceased at the time of the shooting.” It is urged that this was error because there was blood on the clothing. The issue was sharply drawn as to whether the deceased was in a striking attitude when the fatal shot was fired. Under such an issue, the clothing was clearly admissible as evidence under the authorities cited by the appellant. 6 Ency. Evidence, 672-3; Christian v. State, 46 Tex. Cr. App. 47, 79 S. W. 562.

“The clothing worn by the deceased at the time of the shooting and the gun with which the shooting was done, were admitted in evidence over the objection of the defendant, and this is assigned as error. We think that the state was entitled to introduce them, and that no error was committed in permitting the jury to take them to their room when they retired to consider their verdict.” State v. Cushing, 14 Wash. 527, 45 Pac. 145, 53 Am. St. 883.

(5) The refusal of the court to permit the appellant to prove particular fights and quarrels which the deceased had engaged in with third parties before the homicide is assigned as error. In' support of this assignment the appellant has called our attention to Vol. 6, Ency. Evidence, 769.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
100 P. 309, 52 Wash. 210, 1909 Wash. LEXIS 1098, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-churchill-wash-1909.