Guffey v. The Continental Casualty Company

• Decision Date: 07 May 1921
• Docket Number: 22,970
• Citation: 197 P. 1098,109 Kan. 61
• Parties: HAZEL M. GUFFEY, Appellant, v. THE CONTINENTAL CASUALTY COMPANY, Appellee
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

197 P. 1098

109 Kan. 61

HAZEL M. GUFFEY, Appellant, v. THE CONTINENTAL CASUALTY COMPANY, Appellee

No. 22,970

Supreme Court of Kansas

May 7, 1921

Decided January, 1921.

Appeal from Dickinson district court; ROSWELL L. KING, judge.

Ruling affirmed.

SYLLABUS

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.

1. LIFE INSURANCE--Death While Resisting an Attempt to Take Suitcase--No Intent to Rob Deceased Shown. The plaintiff, to establish her claim that the deceased was killed by an assault upon him for the sole purpose of robbery, put upon the stand the only eyewitness to the tragedy, the man who killed him. His story was that he, a special agent for the railroad company, without a warrant attempted to get possession of a suitcase carried by the deceased which he thought contained intoxicating liquor and which he afterwards found did contain such liquor; that after striking the deceased over the head with a rubber club in order to get the suitcase, the deceased choked him until he was compelled to shoot in self-defense. Held, that from this testimony no proof or inference could be derived that the assailant had any intent to rob the deceased, and hence a demurrer to the plaintiff's evidence was properly sustained.

2. SAME--Larceny Included in Robbery. Robbery includes larceny and may be deemed forcible larceny, and in order to constitute it there must be an intent to deprive the owner of the property taken, not temporarily, but permanently.

G. W Hurd, Arthur Hurd, and Bruce C. Hurd, all of Abilene, for the appellant.

C. S Crawford, and E. S. Crawford, both of Abilene, and George R. Sanderson, of Chicago, Ill., for the appellee.

OPINION

WEST, J.:

The plaintiff brought this action to recover on an insurance policy for the death of her husband. Charles Walter Howard, a Rock island special officer, boarded an incoming Rock Island passenger train as it approached Herington. The deceased lived at Herington at a place directly west of where such trains stopped for a Missouri Pacific crossing, and on the evening in question when this train stopped there the deceased picked up his suitcase and started to alight, when he was accosted by Howard who followed him and demanded the suitcase, which Guffey refused to give him. Guffey's father testified that his son was a boiler maker for the Rock Island and lived due west of the crossing and the roundhouse; that in going from his house to his work he crossed to the roundhouse from where he lived; that on the day of the tragedy he had been to Kansas City; and that the train was due between eleven and twelve o'clock. The plaintiff testified that her husband had been working for the Rock Island for about eleven years, and lived about two and one-half blocks due west from the shops; that there was a path which he usually walked in; that the vestibules were always open when the trains reached the crossing. Howard, himself, testified that on the evening in question when Guffey started to get off the train he told him they were not yet at the depot. He followed him--

"To get the suitcase, or see what was in the suitcase was what I was after. . . . Well, I told him to stop, I wanted his suitcase, and he said no, and I told him I was an officer, and he was under arrest. He kept on running, and I kept up with him and struck him on the head with a rubber club. He then whirled and grabbed me. I got away, and seeing that I could not take him I started back away myself, and he grabbed me the second time and commenced choking me. I then reached for my gun seeing that I could not do anything else as he had me fainting then, and giving away, and in fear of my own life I put my gun against his stomach and poked him with it thinking perhaps that he would realize what it was and turn me loose. But instead he kept on choking me. I then pulled the trigger.

"Q. On the 16th day of March, 1918, what if any Federal, state, county, or city office did you hold? A. Rock Island special officer.

"Q. What office, if any besides Rock Island special officer, did you hold at that time? A. None.

"Q. Did you have any warrant for the arrest of John Guffey? A. No, sir.

"Q. Did you know John Guffey at the time you saw him on the train about to get off? A. No, sir.

"Q. Did you know where he lived or where he worked? A. No, sir.

"Q. I wish you would state just all that you said, and all that he said at the time he was attempting to get off the train as you have stated. A. Well, when I first got on the train to ride down to the eating house, he was about to get off, and I told him that was not the station, and he said he wanted to get off at the crossing. And I said Oh and got back out of his way, and he picked up the suitcase, and I seen it was heavy, and being trained by other officers how to tell booze, I asked him to let me see the suitcase, and he said no, and started to run. I then took after him telling him I was an officer, and he was under arrest. . . .

"Q. You have stated that you were a special officer of the Rock Island Railroad Company. I wish you would state what your duties were as such officer. A. To guard company property. Mr. Douglas the day special officer at that time told me that he was instructed by the chief of special service to instruct me and to watch all company property, and to watch the bootleggers--people bringing in booze."

The policy sued on provided among other things that--

"This policy does not cover any loss . . . if the injury causing it results from the intentional act of the insured, or any other persons, excepting however assaults committed upon the insured for the sole purpose of burglary or robbery."

The court sustained a demurrer to the plaintiff's evidence, and from this ruling the appeal is taken.

The special agent testified that after the shot he went to the yard office with the suitcase and called a doctor, and told the yard crew to get a switch engine and take the wounded man to the station. "I then called up the city police and gave myself up." On cross-examination he testified:

"I was after the booze, yes, but the watch and money I knew nothing whatever about.

"Q. And what was your purpose in getting the booze, or attempting to get it? A. I was told to watch for people with booze, or bootleggers by the man left to instruct me, and was acting according to instructions."

He also testified that at the time of the shot he was unable to...