State v. Tate

56 S.W. 1099, 156 Mo. 119, 1900 Mo. LEXIS 284
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedMay 8, 1900
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 56 S.W. 1099 (State v. Tate) 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. Tate, 56 S.W. 1099, 156 Mo. 119, 1900 Mo. LEXIS 284 (Mo. 1900).

Opinion

BURGESS, J.

At the May term, 1896, of the circuit court of Newton county, -the defendant and one William South were jointly in-dieted by the- grand jury of said county, and charged in the first count in the indictment with feloniously, on purpose and of their malice aforethought, shooting with a pistol with intent to kill one William Meadows, and.in the second count with feloniously assaulting said Meadows-with intent to rob. Upon motion of Tate a severance was granted him, and being put upon his trial he was convicted under the second count in the indictment, and his -punishment fixed at two years’ imprisonment in the penitentiary. He-then appealed to- this court, where the judgment was reversed and the cause remanded. [State v. Tate, 145 Mo. 667.]

[123]*123After -tbe case was returned to the circuit court, defendant filed his motion to quash the indictment, which being overruled be filed a plea in bar, whereupon the trial was proceeded with as of upon a plea of not guilty; the result being that defendant was again found guilty under the second count in the indictment and his punishment fixed at two years’ imprisonment in the penitentiary.

After an unsuccessful motion for a new trial, and in arrest, defendant appeals.

The facts are substantially as disclosed by the record on the former appeal, with the exception of the additional testimony of one Charles Pitts, 'who testified that he was an accomplice of defendant and South; and that by previous arrangement between them they went together to Meadows’ house after dark on the evening of April 18, 1896, for the purpose of robbing him of a large sum of money which defendant said Meadows had, and that in pursuance of that arrangement, defendant entered the house and shot Meadows with a pistol while he and South stood watch near by upon the outside, for the purpose of rendering any assistance to South that might be necessary.

The court, over the objection and exception of defendant, instructed the jury as follows:

“1. The court instructs the jury if 'they shall find and believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that "William South, on or about the 18th day of April, 1896, at the county -of Newton 'and State of Missouri, feloniously, on purpose and of his malice aforethought, shot "William Meadows with a loaded pistol, with the intent the moneys, goods and chattels of the said William Meadows, from the person and against the will of the said William Meadows, feloniously, by violence to his person, to rob, steal, take and carry away the moneys, goods and chattels of the said .William Meadows, with the fraudulent purpose to deprive the said Meadows of his ownership therein, and to wrongfully appropriate the same; [124]*124and that John Tate was present, at the time of such shooting, aiding, abetting, encouraging or assisting the said South, or knowing the unlawful intent of South, defendant Tate had stationed himself with the intent to render any assistance to the said South, or so as to be ready to give the alarm in case of danger or necessity, then the jury will find the defendant Tate guilty 'as charged in the second count of the indictment, and assess his punishment in the penitentiary for a term not less than two years nor more than ten years.
“2. The court instructs the jury that the term ‘malice’ as used in these instructions, does not mean mere spite or ill will as it is ordinarily understood, but in law, it means that condition of the mind which prompts one person to take the life of another without just cause or excuse, and signifies that state or disposition which shows a heart regardless of social duty and fatally bent on mischief.
“The term ‘aforethought,’ as used in these instructions, means thought of before any length of time however short.
“The term ‘on purpose’ as used in these instructions means intentionally and not accidentally.
“3. The court instructs the jury that evidence is of two lands, direct and circumstantial. Direct evidence is where the witness testifies directly of his own knowledge of the main fact or facts to be proven. Circumstantial evidence is the proof of certain facts and circumstances in a given case, from which the jury may infer other connected facts which usually and reasonably follow according to the common experience of mankind. Crime may be proven by circumstantial evidence as well as by the direct testimony of eye witnesses, but the facts and circumstances in evidence should be consistent with each other and with the guilt of the defendant, and inconsistent with any reasonable theory of defendant’s innocence.
“4. The court instructs the jury that the defendant is presumed to be innocent of the offense charged; before you can convict him, the State must overcome that presumption by [125]*125proving him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If you have reasonable doubt of defendant’s guilt, you must acquit him; but a doubt to authorize an acquittal should be a substantia] doubt, arising from the evidence, and not a mere possibility of his innocence.
“5. The court instructs the jury, if they believe from the evidence that the defendant made any statement or statements in relation to the crime charged in the second count of the indictment, after the crime is alleged to have been committed, the jury must consider such statement or statements all together. The defendant is entitled to the benefit of what he said for himself, if true, and the State is entitled to the benefit of anything he said against himself in any conversation proved by the State. "What the defendant said against himself, the law presumes to be true, because said against himself. Yrhat the defendant said for himself, the jury are not bound to believe, because it was said in a conversation proved by the State; but the jury may believe or disbelieve it as it is shown to be true or false by the evidence in the ease; it is for the jury to consider-under all the facts and circumstances in evidence, how much of the whole statement or statements of the defendant proved by the State the jury deem worthy of belief.
“6. The court instructs the jury, if they believe from the evidence that the defendant made any statement or statements in relation to the crime charged in the second count of the indictment, such statement or statements should be received and weighed by the jury with great caution, taking into consideration the liability of the witnesses to forget or misunderstand what was really said; to misquote the language used; the failure of the defendant to have expressed his own meaning; o^ of the witness to have comprehended the meaning intended to be conveyed; the infirmity of human memory; the probability of the witness, intentionally or unintentionally, changing or altering the expression used.
“7. The court instructs the jury that the testimony of [126]*126an accomplice in the crime, that is, a person who actually commits or participates in committing the crime, is admissible; yet the testimony of an accomplice in crime, when not corroborated by some witness or witnesses not implicated in the crime as to matters material to the- issues, that is, matters connecting the defendant with the commission of the crime as charged against him, ought to be received with great caution by the jury, and the jury ought to be fully satisfied of its truth before they should convict the defendant on such testimony.

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Bluebook (online)
56 S.W. 1099, 156 Mo. 119, 1900 Mo. LEXIS 284, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tate-mo-1900.