State v. Payne

171 P.2d 227, 25 Wash. 2d 407, 1946 Wash. LEXIS 404
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 13, 1946
DocketNos. 29854, 29860.
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 171 P.2d 227 (State v. Payne) 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. Payne, 171 P.2d 227, 25 Wash. 2d 407, 1946 Wash. LEXIS 404 (Wash. 1946).

Opinions

Mallery, J.

Elizabeth Ann Crowe was a country-reared young woman, twenty-one years of age, who had joined the Waves in March, 1944, and was stationed at the time of her death at Sun Valley, Idaho, at which time she was four and one-half months pregnant. She was in excellent health, and neither she nor her child required an abortion for reasons of health or safety.

Deceased was in Everett, Washington, on Saturday, September 8, 1945, at which time and place she made an appointment by phone with appellant Payne, to whom she made known her condition. She attempted to phone her parents in McMinnville, Oregon, for money, and on Sunday, September 9,1945, she went to McMinnville, told her parents of her intention to have an abortion, secured one hundred fifty dollars she had left with them, and returned to Everett, Tuesday, September 11, 1945.

She went directly to appellant Payne’s office at 2813 Rockefeller avenue, Everett, Washington, in a taxicab at eight a. m. At about 8:45 a. m. that same morning, deceased was seen at the bus depot in Everett. She took her luggage, a large suitcase, in a taxicab to the Elk hotel, which is about two city blocks from appellant Payne’s office. She engaged a room at this hotel, unpacked her suitcase, and took a uniform across the street to the cleaners. She returned to the hotel and left again about 9:45 a. m. She was next seen at *410 appellant’s office. According to appellant Brown, this was at about 12:30 p. m.- Only the appellants were in the office that day, it being the other doctor’s day off. Both appellants were present when the girl arrived. Appellant Brown removed all her clothing except her slip.

Appellant Payne testified that he was a drugless physician, a chiropractor, a sinopractor, and a dentist, and could give “any type of anesthetic pertaining to the case that we are treating in gynecology and obstetrics.” Drugs were administered to deceased. She was given ergot and ergotrate. Appellant Payne injected evipol, an anesthetic, into the vein in the right arm at the elbow. Appellant Payne also testified that he had rectal instruments, including a speculum and a dilator, and an operating or examination table in his office.

Elizabeth Ann Crowe died in appellants’ office at 2813 Rockefeller avenue, Everett, Snohomish county, Washington, on the afternoon of September 11, 1945. Just before she passed away, appellant Payne called in the pulmotor squad of the city fire department, but without avail. Deceased never regained consciousness. Later, appellant Payne called in the undertaker and filed a death certificate giving the cause of death as coronary thrombosis, due to colon injuries.

An autopsy was performed on the body of Elizabeth Ann Crowe on September 13,1945, by Dr. Gale E. Wilson, autopsy surgeon of King county, Washington, in the presence of two other surgeons, who were of the opinion that she died as a result of collapse and shock resulting from hemorrhage and perforation of the bowel, perforation of the uterus and rupture of the cervix, incident to a very crude attempt at abortion.

Dr. Willis corroborated Dr. Wilson and Dr. Wagner and gave his opinion that a person receiving such multiple injuries as observed at the autopsy could not have moved about or walked any distance afterwards.

Appellant had the assistance of a medical expert, Dr. Copps, who also participated as counsel in the trial. Dr. Copps testified that, in his opinion, with the injuries described by the state’s witnesses, it was possible but not *411 probable that the deceased could get up and walk after such an operation, and that the injuries were not self-inflicted.

The appellants were informed against jointly as principals in an information in two counts, in the language of the pertinent statutes for manslaughter by abortion (Rem. Rev. Stat., § 2397 [P.P.C. § 117-15]) and abortion (Rem. Rev. Stat., §2448 [P.P.C. § 113-1]).

This appeal is from judgments based upon the jury verdicts of guilty as to both on each count.

We will first consider the appeal of appellant Payne. The theory of his defense is that he did not attempt to perform an abortion; that, when the deceased called at the clinic, she was in a fainting condition and that he took her in and placed her on a bed in one of the rooms; that he busied himself doing all he could to relieve the pain of the deceased and otherwise render assistance. He does not dispute that an abortion was attempted, but he denies that he did it, the inference being that it was performed elsewhere by someone unknown.

He urges that the court erred in denying to his counsel the right to examine, prior to trial, the state’s autopsy report of Dr. Wilson. We believe this has been very well answered by this court in State v. Clark, 21 Wn. (2d) 774, 153 P. (2d) 297, in which we said:

“A prosecuting attorney is under no obligation to submit any evidence he has in his possession to counsel for a person charged with a crime. State v. Payne, 10 Wash. 545, 39 Pac. 157. The state is not required to submit its evidence to counsel for the accused. The accused is not, as a matter of right, entitled to have for inspection before trial evidence which is in possession of the prosecution. Such matter is peculiarly within the trial court’s discretion, with which we will interfere only when there has been a manifest abuse of discretion. State v. Allen, 128 Wash. 217, 222 Pac. 502; State v. Morrison, 175 Wash. 656, 27 P. (2d) 1065; State v. Ingels, 4 Wn. (2d) 676, 104 P. (2d) 944.”

No inquest was held, no coroner’s report filed, no public record made. Appellants’ counsel had a list of state’s witnesses as required by law, including the names of Dr. Wilson and Dr. Wagner, at the time the case was set for trial. When *412 the witnesses appeared on the stand, the court permitted appellants to inspect Dr. Wilson’s written notes and findings for purposes of cross-examination, whereupon appellants offered them in evidence as defendants’ exhibits 2 and 3. They were allowed to make a copy of these exhibits and to recall Dr. Wilson at a later time for further cross-examination. Inasmuch as the court granted this request during the process of the trial, we see nothing prejudicial to the appellants, and they have pointed out none in particular.

He next contends that the court erred in ordering a special venire to try only this case when there was a jury in regular attendance, and also in excluding the members of the regular jury panel from being chosen as jurors by excusing the entire regular panel. This was done because word of tampering with the regular panel in connection with this case had come to the court’s attention.

It is his contention that the statutes contemplate the selection by chance from the body of the county of a qualified number of persons to attend upon the court as jurors for a particular term. (Rem. Rev. Stat., § 92 [P.P.C. § 72-7].) That, if this number be insufficient, the judge may order the clerk to draw from the jury list such additional names as he may consider necessary. (Rem. Rev. Stat., § 99 [P.P.C. § 72-25].) That, if it appeared, upon their voir dire,

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

Related

Davidow v. Zalnatrav Inc
W.D. Washington, 2024
State Of Washington v. Victor W. Sprague
480 P.3d 471 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021)
Saldivar v. Momah
145 Wash. App. 365 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2008)
State v. Rice
757 P.2d 889 (Washington Supreme Court, 1988)
State v. Smith
540 P.2d 424 (Washington Supreme Court, 1975)
State v. Mathers
477 P.2d 34 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1970)
State v. Tyler
466 P.2d 120 (Washington Supreme Court, 1970)
State v. Adams
458 P.2d 558 (Washington Supreme Court, 1969)
State v. Beard
444 P.2d 651 (Washington Supreme Court, 1968)
State v. Poe
441 P.2d 512 (Utah Supreme Court, 1968)
State v. Louie
413 P.2d 7 (Washington Supreme Court, 1966)
State v. Mesaros
384 P.2d 372 (Washington Supreme Court, 1963)
State v. Thompson
338 P.2d 319 (Washington Supreme Court, 1959)
State v. Griffith
328 P.2d 897 (Washington Supreme Court, 1958)
State v. Thomas
324 P.2d 821 (Washington Supreme Court, 1958)
Walker v. Superior Court
317 P.2d 130 (California Court of Appeal, 1957)
Ford v. United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America
315 P.2d 299 (Washington Supreme Court, 1957)
State v. Farley
290 P.2d 987 (Washington Supreme Court, 1955)
State v. Petersen
289 P.2d 1013 (Washington Supreme Court, 1955)
Rosier v. People
247 P.2d 448 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1952)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
171 P.2d 227, 25 Wash. 2d 407, 1946 Wash. LEXIS 404, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-payne-wash-1946.