State v. German
| Decision Date | 31 January 1874 |
| Citation | 54 Mo. 526 |
| Parties | THE STATE OF MISSOURI, Defendant in Error v. WILLIAM GERMAN, Plaintiff in Error. |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Error to Jasper Circuit Court.
James F. Hardin & D. A. Harrison, for Plaintiff in Error.
I. The court erred in admitting any evidence. There was no proof offered tending to prove that Canaday was dead, and without proof of the death, there could be no conviction. .) The confessions could not be used to prove the corpus delicti. See above cases.
II. The court erred in admitting the evidence of confessions testified to by the witness, C. W. Mallory.
H. Clay Ewing, Attorney General, for Defendant in Error.
The defendant was indicted in the Circuit Court for murder in the first degree, in killing one Canaday. On the first trial he was convicted of the offense, with which he stood charged, but on his motion that conviction was set aside, and being again put upon his trial he was found guilty of murder in the second degree.
The testimony as preserved in the bill of exceptions, shows in brief, that the defendant and Canaday, lived together, Canaday, having married defendant's wife's mother; that on the day on which Canaday, disappeared, the two started together in a wagon, to a cornfield where they were working, about two miles distant. In the evening when defendant returned he was alone, and when inquired of concerning Canaday, he said that a couple of men came along where they were at work, and gave the old man a drink of whisky, and he went off with them. There was nothing unusual about defendant's actions and appearance, and he uniformly told the same story in reference to Canaday's absence.
After the lapse of several months, in the woods between the house where defendant lived, and the field where he went to work when he was accompanied by Canaday, a pair of old boots, and some other clothing were found, and also some bones. An attempt was made to identify the boots and clothing as those belonging to, and worn by Canaday, but the evidence only showed that they were similar, no witness swearing to a positive identification. Nothing was done towards arresting the defendant or fastening the alleged crime upon him, and in about eight months after Canaday's disappearance, he changed his residence, going into Kansas, forty miles distant from where he previously resided. A warrant was afterwards sued out against him, in Jasper county, charging him with the murder of Canaday, and an officer went and arrested him, in his own house. He accompanied the officer back to Jasper county, without any kind of resistance, and on the way, he was told by one of them, that it would be better for him, to confess.
After he was placed in prison, the officer who arrested him and was deputy sheriff, had several conversations with him. The officer says that those conversations were confidential; and upon another occasion he says that he had the prisoner completely “broke.” At one of these conversations, and one only, the prisoner made the confession to him, which was given in evidence. From the officer's statment it seems that the prisoner labored under the impression, that there were certain witnesses who were going to swear that he committed the crime. He evidently believed that they would convict him, and he told the officer, that he had made up his mind not to put the county to any more expense, and that he would plead guilty, and that he killed Canaday. There was a mere admission of killing; no time, place, or circumstances were given. He wanted the officer to see the judge and use his influence, to have his punishment as light as possible, and then to get up a petition to have him pardoned. The officer promised him that he would get up the desired petition, and told him that he thought he could be got out of the penitentiary, after he had been there a reasonable time. At the time this confidential interview was had, it appears that this same officer was engaged with others in procuring counsel to assist in prosecuting the accused to a conviction, for the purpose of obtaining a reward, that had been offered. It appears abundantly clear that, when the prisoner proposed to plead guilty and confess the crime, that he supposed, that he could plead guilty of murder in the second degree, and that no higher punishment than imprisonment in the penitentiary could be inflicted upon him under the indictment. But when he afterwards saw the indictment and became aware that it was for murder in the first degree, and that a conviction thereon might lead to an execution, he changed his mind, and declared that he would not plead guilty, but would stand his trial. Such is substantially the evidence as shown by the record. It will be observed that there was no evidence whatever, that Canaday was murdered, except the confession of the defendant, and that was made under circumstances which rendered it inconclusive and questionable indeed, whether it should have been admitted at all.
Confessions are divided into two classes, namely, judicial and extra-judicial. Judicial confessions, are those which are made before the magistrate or in court, in due course of legal proceedings, and it is essential that they be made of the free will of the party, and with full and perfect knowledge of the nature and consequences of the confession. Of this kind are the preliminary examinations, taken in writing by the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Pruitt v. State
...of the accused are insufficient to warrant conviction. Stringfellow v. State, 26 Miss. 157; Winslow v. State, 76 Ala. 42; State v. German, 54 Mo. 526; U. S. v. Mayfield, 59 118. Although this court may be reluctant to reverse this case after it has been passed upon by the jury, still if the......
-
State v. McMurphy
... ... Special Judge ... ... Reversed and remanded ... Wm ... E. Suddath, Leslie & Moritz and M. D. Aber for ... appellants ... (1) The ... evidence does not sustain the charge. Robinson v ... State, 12 Mo. 592; State v. German, 54 Mo. 526; ... State v. Ballard, 104 Mo. 634; State v ... Scott, 177 Mo. 665; State v. Morney, 196 Mo ... 45; State v. Gordon, 199 Mo. 561; State v ... Francis, 199 Mo. 671; State v. Goddard, 216 Mo ... 172; State v. Miller, 234 Mo. 588; State v ... Young, 237 Mo. 170; State v. Counts, ... ...
-
State v. Humphrey
... ... confession of a crime charged, made out of Court by the ... accused, must be supported by independent proof of the corpus ... delicti; that is, by proof that a crime was in fact ... committed. Robinson v. State, 12 Mo. 592; State ... v. Scott, 39 Mo. 424; State v. German, 54 Mo ... 526, 14 Am. Rep. 481; State v. Coats, 174 Mo. 396, ... 74 S.W. 864; State v. Henderson, 186 Mo. 473, 85 ... S.W. 576; Kelly, Crim. Law and Prac. sec. 281; 12 Cyc ... 483." [State v. Young, 237 Mo. 170, 140 S.W. 873, l.c ... 875.] "Proof of a confession of a crime not made in open ... ...
-
State v. McMurphy
...Leslie & Moritz and M.D. Aber for appellants. (1) The evidence does not sustain the charge. Robinson v. State, 12 Mo. 592; State v. German, 54 Mo. 526; State v. Ballard, 104 Mo. 634; State v. Scott, 177 Mo. 665; State v. Morney, 196 Mo. 45; State v. Gordon, 199 Mo. 561; State v. Francis, 19......
-
Judicial suicide or constitutional autonomy? A capital defendant's right to plead guilty.
...94 Mass. (12 Allen) 155, 175-76 (1866) (stating that the court has no power to refuse a plea of guilty by a defendant); State v. German, 54 Mo. 526, 531 (1874) (refusing to accept the defendant's confession since it was done outside of the court and was coerced); State v. Almy, 28 A. 372, 3......