Chase v. State

• Decision Date: 29 May 1963
• Docket Number: No. A-13196,A-13196
• Citation: 382 P.2d 457
• Parties: James M. CHASE, Plaintiff in Error, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Defendant in Error.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

Page 457

382 P.2d 457

James M. CHASE, Plaintiff in Error, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Defendant in Error.

No. A-13196.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

May 29, 1963.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Court of Criminal Appeals will not interfere with the jury's verdict, especially where there is no sharp conflict in the evidence from which different inference can be drawn, since it is the sole and exclusive province of the jury to weigh the evidence and determine the facts.

2. Responsibility for homicide attaches to one who accelerates the death of a person in poor physical condition, although the injury inflicted would not have killed a healthy person, and although the condition from which the victim was suffering would itself probably have been fatal. Accused's ignorance of the victim's poor condition is immaterial.

An appeal from the District Court of Comanche County; Luther B. Eubanks, Judge.

James M. Chase was convicted of the crime of Manslaughter First Degree, and Appeals. Affirmed.

Lewis F. Oerke, Lawton, for plaintiff in error.

Charles Nesbitt, Atty. Gen., Hugh H. Collum, Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendant in error.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal by James Matthew Chase, plaintiff in error, defendant below. He was charged by Information in the District Court of Comanche County, Oklahoma, with the murder of his wife, Victoria Elizabeth Chase, allegedly committed on May 4, 1961. More particularly, the Information charged that Chase beat his wife to death with his fists, hands, feet, boots, and a tubular instrument (the description of which was unknown), and a steel military helmet; all of which he did with premeditated design, and as a result of said beating, Mrs. Chase died.

Defendant was tried by a jury, convicted of First Degree Manslaughter, and his punishment fixed at 15 years in the State Penitentiary. Judgment and sentence was entered accordingly, from which this appeal has been perfected.

The state's proof, both direct and circumstantial, established briefly the following facts:

The defendant and his wife and two small children resided in Lawton, Oklahoma, the defendant being an army officer with the rank of Captain, stationed at nearby Ft. Sill. Captain Chase had been away from home on special assignment in New Mexico, from which he returned in the late afternoon before the fatal episode.

In a written, free and voluntary statement given after being advised of his rights, that the statement could be used against him, and that he could have the aid of counsel if he so desired (which he declined); Captain Chase made a confession of guilt, of beating his wife to death.

He stated in substance that on his return home he found his wife in a drunken condition, which she denied to him. His investigation disclosed the source of her condition, and an argument ensued that continued and grew in violence up into the night, and the fight ensued. He admitted he shoved and hit Mrs. Chase with his fists, he didn't know how many times. He related that he remembered knocking her down but she got up and they scuffled some more, but, he said, 'I just can't remember how many times I Hit her.' He said the fight stopped about 8:30 p. m. and he went about his chores. He did not know where his wife was until he went into the bedroom and found her on the bed. He blew up his army mattress, put it in front of the hi-fi in the living room, carried his wife in and placed her on the mattress. Then he said he went to bed. When at 6:30 a. m. the next morning, he called his wife and got no answer, he called his cover off of her; then, thinking she was cold he put a blanket over her. Later he soaked a blanket in hot water and put it around her. Then he moved her to the bedroom, where he put her pajamas on her; she being before then, in the nude. He then called the ambulance, which took her to Ft. Sill Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The state's evidence did not establish the defendant was drunk until the officers who arrived after being notified of the tragedy, and because of the close contact, discovered that he had been drinking and had a strong smell of stale alcohol on his breath.

Captain Joseph C. Gaulin, Army Pathologist, testified in substance as follows, regarding Mrs. Chase's fatal injuries:

'The body showed external evidence of a severe beating. There were numerous bruises all over the body, too numerous to count, even. Both eyes were shut, closed, swollen. The cheeks were also bruised, swellen; the mouth, the entire body, I would say, arms, legs, back, Buttocks. There were also cuts within the mouth. There was dried blood in and around the mouth and nose, and it was evident that this body had received a tremendous beating before.

'* * * there was evidence that there had been numerous internal injuries diffuse throughout the various systems.

'* * * those that were of a more significant nature were changes within the lungs.

'* * * evidence of bleeding in each area of the lungs.

'* * * there was also evidence of bleeding into the pleural space.

'* * * in the abdominal cavity there was also bloody fluid.

'* * * and there was also evidence of bruising of various internal organs and tearing of some of the organs.'

He then testified of damage to the liver and the pancreas, indicative of strong blows in the region of those organs. He related bruises on the body correlated to the internal injuries. He said, 'Most of them were of a wide diffuse type that could be caused by anything from a fist to a flat object or some blunt wide object.' Then he said, '* * * the ribs showed a lot of areas of hemorrhage around the ribs, but no fractures, anywhere.' 'The brain showed, I beleive, four small areas of hemorrhage at various places', he testified. 'There was also evidence of hemorrhage within the scalp region, the type you would see in a blow or a bump.' He testified the bruises on the body were of various types as though they might have been inflicted by the fist; an army helmet (found on the premises with paint chips and a dent in it); and 'a broom handle or two rods held together'. The voluminous photographic evidence of the bruises support his conclusions. Death, Captain Gaulin testified, was by reason of the accumulation of...