Fleenor v. Commonwealth
| Decision Date | 02 October 1934 |
| Citation | 75 S.W.2d 1,255 Ky. 526 |
| Parties | FLEENOR v. COMMONWEALTH. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Harlan County.
Lee Fleenor was convicted of manslaughter, and he appeals.
Affirmed.
C. B Spicer, Forester & Carter, E. H. Johnson, F. M. Jones, and W A. Brock, all of Harlan, and John Noland, of Richmond, for appellant.
Bailey P. Wootton, Atty. Gen., and David C. Walls, Asst. Atty. Gen for the Commonwealth.
STANLEY Commissioner.
The appellant, Lee Fleenor, then a deputy sheriff of Harlan county, shot and killed Bige Gross, another deputy sheriff in the vestibule of the courthouse. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.
Bad feelings had existed between the two men for some time. Threats by the deceased to harm or kill the defendant had been communicated to him. Two days before, Gross had been released on bond under the charge of murdering the defendant's half-brother. He had also shot his sister-in-law. As to the immediate occurrences and as to who was the aggressor the evidence is in conflict. The testimony introduced by the commonwealth showed a premeditated murder without cause, while the defendant and the witnesses presented in his behalf testified that the deceased was attempting to draw his pistol and that self-defense justified the killing. The evidence of the commonwealth is that Gross made no demonstration; that he was shot four times in the right side; and that his pistol was found in his pocket or holster with the safety catch in place and had not been fired. Counsel for the appellant recognize the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict, but in their brief relate that the atmosphere of the trial was hostile and submit that it was bound to have influenced the jury, which came from Madison county. They point out some discrepancies in the stories told by some of the witnesses for the commonwealth, and say they were biased and gave colored testimony. These things are suggested that the court may understand that any errors committed at the trial thereby became of greater importance than had the conditions been otherwise. Even so, the verdict does not reflect any prejudice, and we are of the opinion that the defendant had a fair trial. See Gray v. Commonwealth, 252 Ky. 830, 68 S.W.2d 430. We need to state only briefly the several grounds submitted for a reversal.
Over objection, witnesses were permitted to testify that a little over two years before, when the appellant went to the home of Gross for the purpose of making some arrests, he punched Gross with a rifle and, when he or his companion asked if he was resisting, Fleenor said: "I wish you would resist; I would like to kill you anyhow." One witness put it in vicious language. The court admonished the jury that the evidence was to be regarded only as showing the defendant's state of feelings at the time of the killing and upon the question of motive, if it had such effect. Proof of the state of feeling existing between the defendant and the deceased, as evidenced by their declarations and conduct previous to the killing, is competent for the purpose of showing who commenced the difficulty which resulted in the homicide, although details of previous dissensions are not to be gone into. Lay v. Commonwealth, 186 Ky. 163, 216 S.W. 123; McCandless v. Commonwealth, 170 Ky. 301, 185 S.W. 100; Frazier v. Commonwealth, 194 Ky. 240, 238 S.W. 769; Cannada v. Commonwealth, 242 Ky. 71, 45 S.W.2d 834; Conn v. Commonwealth, 245 Ky. 583, 53 S.W.2d 931; Hilger v. Commonwealth, 254 Ky. 117, 71 S.W.2d 9. We cannot concur in the view that this was too remote in time, for there was evidence that bad feelings had existed between the men since that date. Nor does it offend the rule against relating previous difficulties in much detail.
It was testified that about an hour before the shooting, the defendant...
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Davis v. Com.
...remote evidence to show the magnitude of his obsession and to dispel any notion that it might suddenly subside. Fleenor v. Commonwealth, 255 Ky. 526, 75 S.W.2d 1, 2 (1934) (evidence of defendant's conduct two years prior to murder was not too remote in time as "there was evidence that bad f......
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Huff v. Commonwealth
...was admissible where ill feeling between the accused and deceased was shown not to have abated in the meantime. The same in Fleenor v. Com., 255 Ky. 526, 75 S.W.2d 1, where years had elapsed. See, also, Conn v. Com., 245 Ky. 583, 53 S.W.2d 931; Privitt v. Com., 271 Ky. 665, 113 S.W.2d 49. I......
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Barnes v. Com.
...by cross-examination. We have examined the authorities cited by the Commonwealth, and particularly our decisions in Fleenor v. Commonwealth, 255 Ky. 526, 75 S.W.2d 1 (1934), and Scruggs v. Commonwealth, Ky., 566 S.W.2d 405, cert. denied, 439 U.S. 928, 99 S.Ct. 314, 58 L.Ed.2d 321 (1978). Fl......
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Davis v. Commonwealth, No. 2002-SC-1092-MR (KY 11/18/2004)
...remote evidence to show the magnitude of his obsession and to dispel any notion that it might suddenly subside. Fleenor v. Commonwealth, 255 Ky. 526, 75 S.W.2d 1, 2 (1934) (evidence of defendant's conduct two years prior to murder was not too remote in time as "there was evidence that bad f......