State v. Remington

91 P. 473, 50 Or. 99, 1907 Ore. LEXIS 183
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 20, 1907
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 91 P. 473 (State v. Remington) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon 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. Remington, 91 P. 473, 50 Or. 99, 1907 Ore. LEXIS 183 (Or. 1907).

Opinion

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Moore.

The defendant, E. L. Remington, was convicted of the crime of assault with intent to kill, alleged to have been committed in Marion County, November 22, 1906, by shooting and wounding one W. W. Slaughter, and appeals from the judgment which followed.

1. His counsel contend that an error was committed in admitting in evidence, over their objection and exception, a map of the locus in quo where the shooting occurred. B. B. Herrick, county surveyor of the county mentioned, testified that, pursuant to the district attorney’s • direction, he measured a part of Slaughter’s land and made a plat thereof, which he identified, and upon which appear black lines indicating certain objects. Thus, in a small square on the map is written the phrase “Pig shed,” and on the west side of the shed are two parallel lines, marked “Log 3 feet high.” At the southwest corner of the shed is a small circle having a cross therein, and designated by the words “Point where shells were found.” A garden is represented as being east of the pig shed, in which is another circle similarly marked, and indicated by the sentence “Point where plow lies.” Two lines extend north and south, 29 and [101]*101124 feet, respectively, east of the pig shed, which are specified, in the order named, “Board fence 4 feet high” and “Picket fence 5 feet high.” At a point in the palings last mentioned, in a direct line between the circles specified, is a cross, marked “Bullet hole in fence 3-| feet above ground.” A trail is represented as extending southeasterly across Slaughter’s land, the nearest line of which is about 122 feet south of th pig shed. A county road, extending north and south, is indicated on the map as being east of such premises, and across the highway are certain lines, marked “Pomeroy’s house.” All the objects thus specified, and others not mentioned, are represented by black .lines. There are also on the plat certain red lines, in the broken parts of which appear numbers, indicating in feet the distance, respectively, from one object to another. Omitting these numbers, the red marks are as follows: One direct and two curved lines connect the circles hereinbefore mentioned. A line extends from the circle designating the point where the plow lies to Slaughter’s dwelling, and from thence to Pomeroy’s house. A line is drawn southeasterly from the pig shed to the trail, and another line also extends southwesterly from the point where the plow lies to a point in the picket fence. The objections interposed to the introduction of the map in evidence were based on the ground that no testimony had been introduced tending to show that the shooting had been done at any given point, and also for the reason that the red lines were made on the plat, at the district attorney’s direction, to illustrate his theory of the case.

The state attempted to establish the fact, by the discovery of the three empty shells of the same caliber as the defendants rifle, which parts of cartridges were found near the southwest corner of the pig shed, that Remington fired his gun from ambush behind the log indicated on the plat. The county surveyor was not present when the metallic eases were discovered, and the information which enabled him to note on the plat the words “Point where shells were found” was not derived from his personal observation of a material fact, but obtained from the declarations of others. In Adams v. State, 28 Fla. 511 (10 South. [102]*102106), the plaintiff in error was charged with the crime of murder in the first degree, and at his trial a map was offered in evidence, on which were delineated the route of a certain person and also the positions severally occupied by others. A verdict of guilty as alleged having been returned, judgment was rendered thereon, in reversing which the court say: “Ike Spanish did not take the map and trace the route in explanation of his testimony; neither did Sandy Sheffield mark on the map where he was, and where he saw Will Adams passing along; but it appears that Mr. Brown put these indications on the map. It also seems that the map was introduced in evidence after Spanish and Sheffield had testified. We think a map or diagram of the country in its physical condition at the time can be put in evidence, and any witness, in giving testimony as to localities, can indicate on the map the relative position of things or persons. But for a person who knew nothing of these matters, except what he heard from others, to designate the movements of persons on the map, would be testimony of a secondary character, and improper to be admitted.'” In the case at bar A. E. Pender testified that the morning after the shooting he found in the grass and ferns at a point about six or eight inches west of the log indicated on the map, and at the southwest corner cf the shed, two “30-30” shells, and two days thereafter he Discovered another shell of the same size about three feet southwest of where he found the others; and, his attention having been called to the map, he identified thereon the places and objects thus indicated. Referring to a bullet hole in a picket of the fence he further stated that the perforation in the paling was in a direct line between the places where the two shells were found and where the plow was left in the furrow. This witness stated on cross-examination that, from the place where he found the two shells, a person using a gun right-handed would have been behind the shed.

2. The order of proof is regulated by the sound discretion of the court (B. & C. Comp. § 842); and, though the map was received in evidence before Pender was called as a witness, his identification of the “point where the shells were found” ren[103]*103dered the plat competent evidence, as illustrating his description of the premises: 4 Elliott, Evidence, § 3044; Rowland v. McCown. 20 Or. 538 (26 Pac. 853); People v. Cassidy, 133 N. Y. 612 (30 N. E. 1003).

Considering the respective theories of the district attorney and defendant’s counsel, it is deemed proper to state the relation which existed between the prosecuting witness and Remington at the time the shooting occurred. Slaughter’s wife had been divorced from him on the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment, in which suit he made no appearance. He blamed Remington, however, for his marital troubles, and had repeatedly threatened to take his life, to accomplish which he usually carried a revolver, occasionally exhibiting it, and declaring that he went thus armed to execute his purpose, which menaces had been communicated to Remington. Slaughter possessed the reputation, in the vicinity in which he lived, of being quarrelsome and desperate.

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Bluebook (online)
91 P. 473, 50 Or. 99, 1907 Ore. LEXIS 183, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-remington-or-1907.