Stokes v. Territory of Arizona

127 P. 742, 14 Ariz. 242, 1912 Ariz. LEXIS 135
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 9, 1912
DocketCriminal No. 304
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 127 P. 742 (Stokes v. Territory of Arizona) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stokes v. Territory of Arizona, 127 P. 742, 14 Ariz. 242, 1912 Ariz. LEXIS 135 (Ark. 1912).

Opinion

CUNNINGHAM, J.

Appellant assigns error upon alleged irregularities in the drawing and. impaneling of the grand jury that returned the indictment, and in drawing and impaneling the trial jury. No challenge to either jury appears in the record, but the defendant entered his plea of not guilty, and the trial was had upon the issues thus raised.

The irregularities complained of are not fundamental in their character, and are raised for the first time in this court therefore the objection comes too late for consideration. Furthermore, this court will presume, under such state of circumstances, that all such irregularities were waived by the defendant when he entered his plea of not guilty. Pen. Code Ariz., 1901, par. 797; Ex parte Wilson, 140 U. S. 575, 35 L. Ed. 513, 11 Sup. Ct. Rep. 870; Montgomery v. State, 3 Kan. 263; Thomas v. Territory, 11 Ariz. 184, 89 Pac. 591; Hoyt v. Territory, ante, p. 161, 126 Pac. 267, decided July 11, 1912.

Appellant complains of errors committed upon the trial ins the admission of testimony, which we deem unnecessary to consider in a disposition of the case. If error was committed on that trial, we presume it will not occur again on a new trial.

The appellant offered testimony of a prior recent altercation between appellant and deceased, and of threats made by deceased to kill appellant, avowing that such testimony was:, offered for the purpose of showing who was probably the aggressor in the fatal altercation, and bearing on the mental state of the parties at the time of such altercation. The court rejected the offer until appellant would show more clearly itss relation to his defense, stating that if the testimony was offered in support of the plea of self-defense it might be received for that purpose, but if the defense relied upon was. that of accidental shooting it would have no relevancy, and would be rejected. Counsel for appellant insists this ruling: had the effect of forcing the defendant to an election of defenses, upon which is based the fifth assignment of error.

Under a plea of not guilty, accused, in a criminal case, may give in testimony all matters of fact tending to establish any defense he may have, other than former conviction or acquittal and former jeopardy, which must be specially pleaded-Pen. Code Ariz. 1901, par. 882. He is not limited to consistent pleas under this broad statute. On a retrial of this [247]*247case, should any evidence he brought out showing that defendant was acting in self-defense, the offer of previous threats by deceased should be allowed.

The eighth and ninth assignments of error attack certain of the instructions of the court and allege error in the failure of the court to instruct upon certain phases of the case as presented by the evidence, and these questions merit serious consideration.

The appellant complains of the following instructions:

“I charge you, as a matter of law, that a deputy sheriff of Gila county and territory of Arizona is a peace officer, and as such peace officer may make an arrest without a warrant, when a felony has in fact been committed, and he has reasonable cause for believing the person arrested to have committed it; and that he can make such arrest, under such circumstances, at night.

“I further charge you, as a matter of law, that an aggravated assault is an assault committed by an adult male upon the person of a female. An assault is an unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit a violent injury upon the person of another. An aggravated assault is a felony.

“Therefore, gentlemen, if you find from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant, Stokes, was committing an aggravated assault, or had committed an aggravated assault, on the person of the witness Jean Elliott, a female, on the night of January 9, 1911, and that the decedent, Woods; was a peace officer at that time, and that he (Woods) had reasonable cause for believing that the said Stokes had committed such a felony, then I charge you that said Woods had a lawful right to arrest the said Stokes during the night without a warrant.

“No particular form of word is necessary in the notification ' by an officer to a person sought to be arrested of his authority and the-grounds of the arrest. The information is sufficient if it was such as to give the accused person an opportunity to submit in an orderly and peaceable manner to the arrest, and such that he knows, or, as a reasonable man, ought to know, that his arrest is intended.

“If you find from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, the’ facts heretofore enumerated as constituting lawful arrest [248]*248existed, and that sneh notice was given, then the arrest or attempt to arrest was lawful, and resistance thereto was unjustifiable, provided you further find from the evidence that the defendant, Stokes, knew at the time, or ought, as a reasonable man, to have known, that the decedent, Woods, was a peace officer.

“If you find, under the instructions given, that Woods was a peace officer, lawfully endeavoring to arrest, or had lawfully arrested, Stokes, and that Stokes was willfully resisting such arrest, knowing Woods to be an officer, then I charge you, as a matter of law, that such resistance was a felony. And if you further find from the evidence that the defendant, Stokes, shot the officer, Woods, while so unlawfully resisting arrest, then the shooting, even though accidental, is murder. Such murder would be murder of the second degree. If, however, you are not satisfied by the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, of the existence of these facts constituting a lawful arrest, or that the defendant, Stokes, knew that Woods was an officer at the time of the arrest, or that he was willfully resisting arrest, then I charge you that, even though you should find he was resisting arrest, if you further find that he shot the deceased by accident, he would not be guilty of murder, but you should consider whether or not he is guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

“If you believe from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant, Stokes, killed the deceased in the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, by accident, you should find him guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Or, if the evidence raises in your mind a reasonable doubt as to whether this was the situation under which the killing occurred, you should give the defendant the benefit of that doubt as against the higher degree of the crime, and find bim guilty of involuntary manslaughter. ’ ’

In determining the culpability of a homicide committed in resisting a supposed unlawful arrest, the lawfulness of the arrest, and not the information of the slayer respecting its legality, is the criterion, in connection with the character of the means used to effect the arrest, upon the one hand, and those used to resist it upon the other. 9 Am. & Eng. Ency. of Law, 1st ed., 609; Alford v. State, 8 Tex. App. 545.

The facts shown in the testimony are not sufficient to induce a reasonable belief that a felony had been committed, nor [249]*249that appellant was probably guilty of any felony. But, on the other hand, the testimony conclusively shows that no charge was laid before the officer that a felony had been committed by appellant or by any person.

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Bluebook (online)
127 P. 742, 14 Ariz. 242, 1912 Ariz. LEXIS 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stokes-v-territory-of-arizona-ariz-1912.