State v. Hollis

1954 OK CR 98, 273 P.2d 459, 1954 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 177
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJuly 21, 1954
DocketA-12014
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 1954 OK CR 98 (State v. Hollis) 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
State v. Hollis, 1954 OK CR 98, 273 P.2d 459, 1954 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 177 (Okla. Ct. App. 1954).

Opinion

BRETT, Judge.

The plaintiff in error Betty Hollis, defendant below, was charged by information in the district court of Roger Mills county, Oklahoma, with having committed the crime on the 6th day of March 1953 of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, to wit, by means of a 1950 model automobile. To the information a demurrer was filed, presented and sustained with exceptions on September 23, 1953, whereupon the county attorney elected to stand on the information and declined to plead further, upon which declaration the trial court dismissed the information, without discharging the defendant, fixed the time for the county attorney to perfect his appeal, released the defendant on his bond then in effect, pending the outcome of the appeal. The journal entry of judgment recites the foregoing matters and things but it does not give any reason as to why the information was insufficient, nor does the record show any. The charging part of the said information reads as follows, to wit:

“That the said Betty Hollis then and there being did unlawfully, wilfully, feloniously, without justifiable or excusable cause, make an assault upon the person of one Leroy Vick, by the means of such force as was likely to produce death with a dangerous weapon, towit; one 1950 model Buick automobile, bearing Texas license plates for year 1952, AT 1483, which the said Betty Hollis was driving and propelling in a reck- ’ less and dangerous manner while the said Betty Hollis was transporting whiskey and resisting arrest, and did then and there strike the body of Leroy Vick with such force as was likely to produce death and "serious bodily injury, and did bruise and injure the left leg in the way and manner aforesaid; with the unlawful and felonious intent on the part of Betty Hollis to injure Leroy Vick and do him great bodily harm and injury, * *

The information was predicated upon the provisions of Title 21 O.S.1951 § 645, reading in words and figures as follows, to wit :

*461 “Every person who, with intent to do bodily harm, and without justifiable or excusable cause commits any assault upon the person of another with any sharp or dangerous weapon, or who, without such cause, shoots or attempts to shoot at another, with any kind of firearm or air gun or other means whatever, with intent to injure any person, although without intent to kill such person or to commit any felony, is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding five years, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year.”

It is apparent that the information herein involved was drawn in manner and form to comply with the allegations contained in the case of Beck v. State, 73 Okl.Cr. 229, 119 P.2d 865, 866, wherein it was said in syllabus 1:

“An automobile when used in such a manner as is likely to produce death or great bodily harm is a dangerous weapon within the meaning of sec. 1870, O.S.1931, 21 Okl.St.Ann. § 645.”

In the body of the opinion the information therein reads as follows, to wit:

“ ‘ * * * that Otho Beck on the twenty-eighth day of November, A.D., 1939, in Tulsa County, State of Oklahoma, and within the jurisdiction of this court, did unlawfully, willfully and feloniously commit an assault and battery upon the person of one Richard Paris, by means of such force as was likely to produce death; that is to say, the defendant was driving and propelling a 1938 "Ford coupe automobile in a dangerous and reckless manner while under the influence of intoxicating liquor; and at the intersection of 9th street and Cincinnati Avenue in the City of Tulsa, then and there > driving and propelling said automobile over and against the body and person of the said Richard Paris, then and there throwing and hurling him against an automobile and to the street and pavement, severing his right thumb and otherwise bruising, wounding and injuring him, the said Richard Paris, in the way and manner aforesaid; with the unlawful and felonious intent then and there upon the part of the said defendant, Otho Beck to injure the said Richard Paris, and do him great bodily harm and injury * * ”

At pages 232, 233 of 73 Okl.Cr., at page 868 of 119 P.2d it was said:

“This court in the case of Winkler v. State, 45 Okl.Cr. 322, 283 P. 591, and in the case of Lamb v. State, 70 Okl.Cr. 236, 105 P.2d 799, has specifically held that where an automobile is being operated in a manner forbidden by law, and the proof shows that the accused, while so operating the automobile, ran into and injured a person lawfully on said highway, that the operation of the automobile in such manner takes the place of and supplies the unlawful intent. In each of these cases, this court sustained convictions for assaults committed with an automobile.
“Defendant contends that the rule in Winkler v. State, supra, and Lamb v. State, supra, is erroneous and that those decisions should be specifically overruled.
“While no authorities have been cited' by counsel for defendant in support of their argument and no brief has- been furnished to the court upon this point by the state, we have undertaken to make an examination of the decisions of many other states to ascertain whether the courts of last resort of those states in their interpretations of similar statutes have held that operation of an automobile in a manner forbidden by law resulting in injury to a person lawfully using the highway constitutes a criminal assault.”

We are of the opinion that the information meets the requirements of Title 22, § 409 of the statutes with reference to the name of the court, the designation of the defendant and place where the offense was committed being within the jurisdiction of the court, that the offense was committed within the 3 years prior to the time of the filing of the information, giving the date the offense was committed and naming the county, that the act complained of is clear *462 ly and distinctly set forth in ordinary and concise language so as to enable the defendant to know what was intended thereby and lastly, that the offense was charged with such a degree of certainty as to enable the court to pronounce judgment, and upon conviction according to the right of the case so as to be a bar to any subsequent prosecution for the same offense. It appears from the plaintiff in error’s brief that it was contended that the information was duplicitous and that surplus and redundant language was used, to wit, “while transporting whiskey” and “while resisting arrest”. It clearly appears that the information charged the offense of assault with a dangerous weapon under Title 21 O.S.1951 § 645. In Bowman v. State, 82 Okl.Cr. 199, 167 P.2d 663, 664, the defendant was charged with manslaughter in the first degree and he complained that the information was duplicitous in that is likewise charged him with the commission of certain misdemeanors, to wit, that he was driving the automobile at the time of the fatal accident while intoxicated and at a greater speed than was reasonable and proper and at a speed greater than would permit him to bring the automobile to a stop within the assured clear distance ahead and in addition thereto, he drove the automobile on the left side of the road to the left of the center of the said highway.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1954 OK CR 98, 273 P.2d 459, 1954 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hollis-oklacrimapp-1954.