State v. Goldsby

114 S.W. 500, 215 Mo. 48, 1908 Mo. LEXIS 266
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedDecember 15, 1908
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 114 S.W. 500 (State v. Goldsby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Goldsby, 114 S.W. 500, 215 Mo. 48, 1908 Mo. LEXIS 266 (Mo. 1908).

Opinion

BURGESS', J.

On May 29', 1907, the grand jury of the city of St. Louis returned an indictment against the defendant, a negro, charging him with murder in the first degree for the shooting and killing of one Oscar Shanklin, in said city. Trial was had on the 27th day of June, 1907, and the defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree, his punishment being assessed at ten years in the penitentiary. Defendant filed motions for a new trial and in arrest of judgment, which were overruled, whereupon he appealed.

The evidence for the State was to the effect that Oscar Shanklin was shot by the defendant on December 11, 1906, at the defendant’s saloon, in St. Louis, and died from the wounds inflicted in a short time.

Sam Medlock, a nephew of the deceased, testified for the State that the deceased and defendant, up to about four weeks before the shooting occurred, had been partners in said saloon, but that there was considerable friction between the men over the running of the business, as a result of which the defendant purchased all of Shanklin’s interest in the saloon.

The State produced but one eye-witness to the [51]*51shooting, Robert T. Scott, a negro, bartender in the saloon at the time. He testified that besides himself, there were in the saloon at the time Tom Smith, William Marshall, deceased and defendant; that between eight and nine o’clock that evening he saw the deceased and defendant standing outside the bar and close to a cigar case which was on top of the bar, and that he saw the deceased writing something on a piece of paper on the top of the cigar case; that about this time William Marshall came into the saloon and began talking to him, Scott, and that Marshall was in the act of leaving when the shooting occurred. Witness did not know what the deceased was writing, but he saw the defendant leave the deceased and walk around behind the bar. With reference to the shooting, Scott testified as follows: “Shanklin was leaning on the cigar case, and I heard him, say to Goldsby, ‘If you don’t do’ something — I didn’t catch what he said — ‘I will do’— something. I couldn’t hear just what he said. He put his hand in his right hand coat pocket, and said something to Goldsby, and then that shooting began, and I don’t know who began it, it started so quick. I saw Shanklin fall on his back, and I didn’t know whether he had a gun or not. He had something in his hand; I saw something shine; he seemed to be grabbing at it, and it was shining; but he fell on his back, and this fellow, Tom Smith, started to run out, and Goldsby said, ‘Don’t any of you leave here; you see he has got a gun in his hand.’ I didn’t know who was the one that done the shooting. I knew, of course, that Goldsby done some of the shooting, and I knew this man was shot, but I didn’t know if he done it at all. I saw Goldsby with a revolver in his hand. I think I saw him fire some shots; I could see that he shot. The shots were all fired in quick succession; I don’t suppose there was over four or five, as near as I can get at it. I cannot say that I saw Shanklin fire any.” [52]*52This witness also testified that after Shanklin fell he saw the handle of a revolver protruding from the inside pocket of Shanklin’s overcoat. He further testified that the day after the- shooting he found what appeared to him to be a bullet hole in some wood work immediately behind where the defendant was standing at the time of the shooting.

Officer Hughes arrived on the scene soon after the shooting took place. The officer took the defendant’s revolver away from him, and then went to the deceased, who was lying on the floor, and found a revolver in the left inside pocket of his overcoat. Four chambers of this revolver contained loaded cartridges, and one contained an empty shell. The officer testified that this empty shell had been fired some time before. The defendant’s revolver was offered in evidence at the trial, also the revolver taken from the pocket of the deceased; but the empty shell, which the officer testified was old and blue-moulded, was not produced at the trial, nor was its. absence accounted for by the- State. Officer Hughes also testified that Goldsby did not make any statement to him that Shanklin had a weapon in his hand and started to fire before Goldsby began shooting’.

Dr. John C. Lebrecht, who held a post-mortem examination over the body of the deceased, testified that he found two bullet wounds on the body, one of which was in the left wrist; the other penetrating the abdomen, and passing through the left lobe' of the liver. He testified that deceased died of hemorrhage of the liver, as a result of the latter wound.

‘ William Marshall testified for the- defendant that he was in the saloon and was just starting to leave when the trouble commenced. He saw Shanklin backing away from the cigar case, and heard him say to Goldsby, “If yon don’t do it I will kill you;” that Shanklin had a gun and was making some motions [53]*53with his hands, and that Goldsby dncked down behind the cigar case, and came up with his gun, shooting; that there were four or five shots fired, but he did not know how many each one fired, or whether Shanklin fired any; that, after the shooting, Goldsby asked that nobody go out, and made the statement that Shanklin had a gun. This witness also testified that the day after the shooting he saw a bullet mark in the back-bar, as testified to by witness Scott.

The defendant testified that he and the deceased had been partners in the saloon, and that on account of their disagreements as to the running of the business, he purchased the interest of the deceased in the saloon, receiving from him a bill of sale, which bill of sale was offered in evidence. He further testified that the deceased came to the saloon that evening, which was about twenty days after the sale, and wanted of him ten dollars, saying that he, the defendant, owed him that much on their settlement. After considerable talking, the defendant agreed to pay the deceased that sum if the deceased would give him a receipt for the same. The deceased then, while he and the defendant were standing outside the bar, by the cigar case, took a pencil and paper and began writing something. The defendant was unable to read what the deceased had written, and he declined to pay the ten dollars. This seemed to anger the deceased, and the defendant said he would pay the ten dollars if the deceased would get some one to write a proper receipt, otherwise not. The deceased then said, “If you don’t do it, I will kill you,” and ran his hand in his overcoat pocket, whereupon the defendant left him and walked behind the bar. The deceased produced a pistol, and the defendant reached for his revolver, lying on the safe under his overcoat, and commenced shooting at the deceased. He, the defendant, was unable to say whether he or the deceased fired the first shot, but he was sure that [54]*54he ducked behind the bar when the deceased first showed his pistol.

The defendant had previously lived in Vicksburg, and he produced at the trial the depositions of a number of citizens of Vicksburg, testifying to his good reputation as a peaceable and law-abiding man.

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

Related

State v. Reich
239 S.W. 835 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1922)
State v. Douglas
167 S.W. 552 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1914)
State v. Conley
164 S.W. 193 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1914)
State v. McKenzie
128 S.W. 948 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1910)
State v. Myers
121 S.W. 131 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1909)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
114 S.W. 500, 215 Mo. 48, 1908 Mo. LEXIS 266, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-goldsby-mo-1908.