Bobo v. State
| Decision Date | 18 March 1929 |
| Docket Number | 215 |
| Citation | 14 S.W.2d 1115,179 Ark. 207 |
| Parties | BOBO v. STATE |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Appeal from Pope Circuit Court; J. T. Bullock, Judge; affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
Hays Priddy & Rorex, for appellant.
Hal L. Norwood, Attorney General, and E. F McFaddin, Assistant, for appellee.
This appeal is prosecuted from a conviction of appellant of the crime of murder in the second degree for killing one Sam Dean, with punishment fixed at 12 years in the penitentiary.
Only two assignments of error are urged; first, that the court erred in permitting the introduction of testimony in rebuttal tending to impeach the defendant's statement; and second, that error was committed in allowing a witness to state his opinion, after examination of the place where the shooting occurred, that it was impossible that shot from one discharge of the gun could have struck the deceased on the ground, cut certain twigs from the bushes where he left the road, and struck the end-gate of his wagon bed.
Appellant and deceased were colored men, farmers, about 40 years of age, living in the same community, about five miles south of Atkins, and about a mile apart. They had been friends from boyhood, belonged to the same lodges and church, and had had no trouble before this difficulty. They were both at church on Sunday before the killing on the next Friday, and agreed that they would attend church together on the next Sunday. Dean was to come by for appellant on Sunday morning.
Richard Bobo, cousin of defendant, and brother- in-law of deceased, spent Saturday night at Dean's home, and he and Dean began drinking "home brew" Sunday morning, and about 9 o'clock they went to defendant's home and continued drinking "home brew." They left defendant's home at about 12 o'clock with another neighbor, Alex Pledger, and went to Dean's home, where Dean served more "home brew." All were drinking, and Dean went into the house and engaged in a controversy with his wife. Defendant went inside, being helped by Richard Bobo to take Dean out of the house, which they did. They took Dean's shotgun away from him, and also a target rifle, his wife saying at the time that Dean was getting his gun to shoot the defendant. When they got outside, defendant asked Pledger to hold Dean, and ran on down to his own home. Dean quieted down, and there seemed to have been no ill will between them or any ground for a quarrel, except condition from drinking. Defendant went home, got his shotgun, and started to Cuba, a negro settlement about three miles away, after his wife. Shortly after leaving home he met Dean with his two companions walking up that way. They spoke to each other in passing, and defendant fired his gun in the air shortly after passing the others.
On Friday morning afterwards both men started early to the gin with a load of cotton, Dean being ahead of appellant, on the same road, and neither knowing of the other's presence. After leaving the Atkins highway, Dean stopped to talk with a colored neighbor, and appellant drove up within about twenty-five yards, and the two engaged in a friendly conversation about their crops and the amount of cotton picked. Dean drove on, with the defendant following. This was about a half-mile from the scene of the killing. Dean's team was the faster, and he was about 75 yards ahead of defendant when they passed Walker's house. He continued to gain, and was about 200 yards ahead when he stopped where the killing occurred. The neighborhood is thickly settled along the road, a State highway, to the cotton gin, except about 250 yards of the road where the killing took place has thick woods on each side and a high bank on the left, an old river-bed, where sand was being taken out for construction work. There was an "S" curve in the road here, with no view of that portion of it from any house along the road. Dean was ahead of appellant, stopped his wagon, and, according to defendant's statement, waited until he drove up. Said he could not drive around Dean's wagon, his team being cut across to the right, and the hole from which the sand was being taken was on the left. When defendant got within about 30 feet, Dean stopped his wagon, wrapped his lines on the sideboard, and started back toward the end of the wagon, telling the defendant it was a good time to settle their differences of last Sunday, at the same time putting his hand into the bib of his overalls and coming towards defendant, who was sitting on his load of cotton. When he started to take his hand out, defendant grabbed his shotgun and fired at Dean, hitting him in the breast. Both teams started to run, and both men either fell or jumped from their wagons, deceased landing first. As appellant fell or jumped, the gun was discharged a second time, just as deceased had turned and started to run. This shot struck the deceased in the hip, and also struck the hind-gate of his wagon. Deceased ran down the right side of the road 25 or 30 steps, turned off into the old road through the bushes at the edge of the road, and fell about 15 steps from the turn-out, where the body was found. Defendant ran after his team, going in the direction of the gin, following the team of the deceased. At the north end of the curve the highway turns directly east to the gin about a quarter of a mile way, and defendant, not having overtaken his team, continued north to the town of Atkins, about one and a half miles, and surrendered to the officers, telling them he had shot Dean. Denied that his gun was concealed, and said he had carried his shotgun for protection against robbers, as he was going to bring the money home he received for his cotton, and his brother-in-law had been robbed a few days before on the road.
Dean, when killed, was dressed in overalls and jumper, the bib of his overalls over his jumper. He was shot in the face, side, head and back with No. 4 shot, and no weapon was found on or near the body. One witness said there were some shot in one of his hands.
Odis Austin, on...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Lacy v. State
...be offered; and the Court did not abuse judicial discretion in such ruling. Walker v. State, 100 Ark. 180, 139 S.W. 1139; Bobo v. State, 179 Ark. 207, 14 S.W.2d 1115. Finding no error, the judgment is affirmed. COBB, J., not participating. 1 The matter of racial discrimination in selection ......
-
Birchett v. State
...chief, Kellensworth v. State, 275 Ark. 252, 631 S.W.2d 1 (1982); Pointer v. State, 248 Ark. 710, 454 S.W.2d 91 (1970); Bobo v. State, 179 Ark. 207, 14 S.W.2d 1115 (1929); Adams v. State, 173 Ark. 713, 293 S.W. 19 (1927), we have an additional consideration before us when we take into accoun......
-
Smith v. State, 4752
...within the sound discretion of trial courts to permit testimony to be adduced out of time, * * *.' To the same effect, see Bobo v. State, 179 Ark. 207, 14 S.W.2d 1115. We hold that there was no abuse of discretion by the Trial Court in the ruling here (b) The witness, J. L. Wright, was perm......
-
Cooley v. State
... ... defense testimony. Here, the defendant took the witness ... stand, and made some sort of denial about having or using a ... pistol. Certainly, the trial court did not abuse its ... discretion in admitting the challenged testimony by way of ... rebuttal. Bobo v. State, 179 Ark. 207, 14 ... S.W.2d 1115 ... V ... Alleged Refusal to Give an Instruction. The court ... instructed the jury as to second degree murder, voluntary ... manslaughter, reasonable doubt, self-defense, circumstantial ... evidence, burden of proof, and other ... ...