Hunt v. State

• Decision Date: 20 January 1903
• Citation: 33 So. 329,135 Ala. 1
• Parties: HUNT v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

33 So. 329

135 Ala. 1

HUNT v. STATE.

Supreme Court of Alabama

January 20, 1903

Appeal from circuit court, Baldwin county; William S. Anderson Judge.

Hamp Hunt was convicted of murder, and he appeals. Reversed.

On the trial of the case the defendant moved the court to quash the special venire in the case upon the ground that there were three capital cases set for trial on the day this case was called, and that the venire served on this defendant is the same special venire, and was drawn at the same time, and is composed of the same names, as the special venire drawn for the trial of the other two cases. On the hearing of this motion the ground of the motion was proved. The court overruled the motion to quash the venire, and to this ruling of the court the defendant duly excepted. Isaac Howell, the father of Gilbert Howell, the deceased, as a witness for the state, testified that he found the body of Gilbert Howell in the Alabama river; that the body was face down when he found it; that there was a hole in the forehead, and that the skull was broken just back of the ear; that the hole in the skull was about the size of two knuckles of the hand; that there was also a hole about the size of a knife blade in the neck of the body of Gilbert Howell. He further testified that Bill Spotts was with him when he found his son's body. Willie Williams, a witness for the state, testified that he was indicted for the killing of Gilbert Howell; that he was on the boat the night it was said that Gilbert Howell was killed; that the defendant, Gilbert Howell, Orrin Thomas, and some others were shooting craps on the boat that night; that after shooting craps awhile, Gilbert Howell started to the back of the boat, to go down the steps, and the defendant Hamp Hunt, and Orrin Thomas went with him; that the witness heard a noise, and ran to the head of the steps, and saw the defendant halfway down the steps, and Orrin Thomas said that Gilbert Howell had fallen overboard, and the witness never saw Gilbert Howell any more. Thereupon the witness Willie Williams was asked by the solicitor for the state the following question: "Did Hamp Hunt make any statement to you?" Upon the witness answering that he did, he was then asked whether he offered any inducement to him to get him to make such statement. Upon the witness answering that he did not, he was then asked if it was free and voluntary and, upon the witness answering that it was, he was asked to state what Hamp Hunt stated to him. The defendant objected to this question upon the grounds that no sufficient predicate had been laid for the introduction of the confession, and that the corpus delicti had not been proved, and that the said question called for illegal, irrelevant, and incompetent evidence. The court overruled the objection, and the defendant duly excepted. The witness stated "that Hamp Hunt, the defendant, said to him (referring to the case) that he did it through passion; that he didn't aim to do it." Thereupon the defendant moved the court to rule out the testimony of the witness Willie Williams as to the statement made to him by the defendant, upon the grounds that no sufficient predicate had been laid, and the corpus delicti had not been proved, and that the statement was incompetent and irrelevant. The court overruled the objection, and the defendant duly excepted. During the examination of Wilson Smith as a witness, and the subsequent examination of Isaac Howell, they were asked whether or not, after it was alleged that Gilbert Howell was killed, they heard the defendant make a statement, and, if so, was such statement freely and voluntarily made, and without any inducement? To each of these questions the witness said that, upon Isaac Howell asking the defendant to tell him about it, the defendant said: "If you save me from these boys, I will tell you the truth. All the people, black and white, know that Orrin Thomas is a desperado." That thereupon Isaac Howell said to the defendant: "All right. We will save you. We will have Orrin Thomas arrested." That thereupon the defendant stated that Orrin Thomas struck Gilbert Howell with his knucks, and Willie Thomas struck at him with his knife and they then threw him overboard. The defendant separately objected to each of the questions propounded to the witnesses, upon the ground that no sufficient predicate had been laid for the introduction of the confessions, in that the corpus delicti had not been sufficiently proved, and also separately moved the court to exclude the testimony of each of such witnesses as to the statements made by the defendant upon the grounds that such statements were in the nature of a confession, and were shown to have been made involuntarily, and that there was no proof of the corpus delicti. The court overruled each of the objections, and also overruled each of the motions to exclude the testimony, and to each of these several rulings the defendant separately excepted. The defendant introduced several witnesses who testified as to his general character. The court, at the request of the state, gave to the jury the following written charges: "(1) If you find from the evidence in the case, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Gilbert Howell met his death at the hands of Hamp Hunt, or at the hands of Hamp Hunt and Orrin Thomas, acting together, you must convict Hamp Hunt. (2) If you cannot say from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, who killed Gilbert Howell (that is, whether it was Hamp Hunt or Orrin Thomas), but can say from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that one of the two killed him, and...