Jones v. United States
| Decision Date | 20 June 1949 |
| Docket Number | No. 11851.,11851. |
| Citation | 175 F.2d 544 |
| Parties | JONES v. UNITED STATES. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Warren A. Taylor, Fairbanks, Alaska, for appellant.
Harry O. Arend, U. S. Atty., Everett W. Hepp, Asst. U. S. Atty., Fairbanks, Alaska, for appellee.
Before MATHEWS, HEALY and POPE, Circuit Judges.
Appellant, Leon W. Jones, was tried and convicted in the district court of the Territory of Alaska on two indictments, each charging murder in the first degree. The two cases were consolidated for trial. In one case the killing charged was of Carl Oscar Ahnstrom; in the other, of Donald R. Harris. The verdicts found appellant guilty of murder in the first degree in each case, "but without capital punishment". Under the Alaska Criminal Code such a verdict made a sentence of life imprisonment mandatory,1 and judgment was entered accordingly.
On this appeal it is urged: (1) that the verdicts were contrary to the evidence in that it was proven that defendant was so intoxicated he was incapable of the deliberation and premeditation required for first degree murder; (2) that the evidence, largely circumstantial, was insufficient to convict; and (3) that the court erred in denying appellant's motion for new trial on the grounds of newly discovered evidence.
The homicides took place at some time during the evening or night of Sunday, July 20, 1947. On that evening Donald R. Harris, one of the victims, hired the government witness, Therriault, to take Harris and the appellant Jones in Therriault's automobile from their construction camp at Big Delta, Alaska, on the Alaska Highway, to a place some thirty miles distant and along the highway where it crosses the Little Gerstle River. At that place Therriault found two cabins and stopped his car near the one nearest the highway which was that of Ahnstrom, the other victim. Harris and Jones got out of the car and went to the second cabin some 57 feet beyond the Ahnstrom cabin. The second cabin was occupied by an Indian family. The two men went in and talked to the Indians there while Therriault, who had promised to wait an hour for them, sat in the car and talked to Ahnstrom, who stood near the car during the entire time Jones and Harris remained in the Indians' cabin, about 40 minutes.
On the trip from the construction camp Jones and Harris had stopped at a roadhouse, and had been drinking from a coca cola bottle, on the trip, but whether they had then been drinking intoxicating liquor Therriault did not know. When they entered the Indians' cabin they carried in whiskey — Therriault said one bottle, the Indians said two, — and they drank while they were in the cabin, where the Indians, Frank Felix and his wife, and their small children, were. Felix and his wife both testified, but not too intelligibly on account of language difficulties. It appears from their testimony that the two men were, or became quite drunk, and were asked to leave the cabin, and as they did so they came out "scuffling". Jones appeared to be chasing Harris, who fell, then got up, and they started running and scuffling again, exchanging blows, "but none were very hard blows." Therriault went to Jones and suggested they return to camp. Jones told Therriault to mind his own business. Thereupon Therriault left and drove back to the construction camp. As he left Ahnstrom was still standing near his own cabin.
This was the last time either Harris or Ahnstrom was ever seen alive by any government witness, for the Indian family, who had also witnessed the scuffling, had become alarmed and gone to an Indian tent camp occupied by some other natives some three quarters of a mile distant through the timber.
After some time Mrs. Felix, with another Indian woman returned to the Felix cabin to get food and clothing for the children. There they found the dead body of Carl Ahnstrom, lying face down, near the Felix cabin. From the brush near the Ahnstrom cabin they heard sounds which they described as the sound of a man dying, — a long drawn-out, vocal "ah". They did not see Harris, but did see a man whom one of them identified as Jones walking back and forth on the highway bridge over the Little Gerstle, "hollering" and throwing stones at the bridge. The women hurriedly left and with all the Indians went to a trading post 4½ miles distant where they reported the homicide.
When the officers arrived, about 2:30 in the morning, they found the body of Ahnstrom lying face down near the Felix cabin. There were two deep wounds in his back, cut through his shirt, apparently by an axe. There were superficial wounds on the neck and head, but death was due to the deep back wounds which penetrated both lungs. Spread over Ahnstrom's back was an extra khaki shirt. This shirt was identified as one Jones was wearing the evening before. Although Ahnstrom was a pipe smoker, an unopened package of Camel cigarettes lay on the ground in the crook of his arm. Jones had brought Camel cigarettes the day before.
The body of Harris lay face up near the Ahnstrom cabin. About three feet away lay a bloody double-bitted axe, identified as one owned by Ahnstrom and which he usually kept in a stump near the cabin. Harris' neck had been chopped open. The wound had severed the great blood vessels and the spinal cord in such a manner as to cause instant death and to make utterance of audible vocal sounds impossible. There was also a wound about six inches in length on the right side of the body at the level of the collar bone and the sternum which extended through the skin and muscles but not into the lung cavity. There were many other superficial abrasions, and a fractured nose. A Camel cigarette was between his lips, bloody where it touched the lips, and slightly burned on the end. Near the body of Harris lay the frame and broken glass of eye-glasses which Jones afterward identified as his.
Across the river from the Ahnstrom cabin, near a valve box of the Canol pipe line, the officers found some clothes scattered about. The clothes belonged to Merle Marie, a native man, with the exception of a pair of brown pants which were identified as having been those worn by Jones the previous day. Jones' watch, key and handkerchief were in the pants pockets. The lower portion of the pants were wet and covered with silt as if they had been worn by one wading the stream. Tracks noted near the valve box were followed down the road to the same Indian camp to which the Felix family had first gone. The officers found no persons there but found a number of empty .22 rifle cartridge boxes. They followed tracks from this Indian camp along a trail to the river, finding various articles scattered about. Near the camp were four dead dogs recently shot where they were chained.
Jones was apprehended on the highway where he came out seeking clothing and food after hiding in the brush for ten days. He had a blanket and a .22 rifle. Both were identified as having been taken from the Indian camp where the .22 cartridge boxes were found. When he was picked up he gave some name other than his own. Later he told the officers who he was, where he had been during his flight, told about being with Harris in the Felix cabin, but said he had no recollection of what happened after that until he woke up the next morning and discovered the bodies. He said
Blood specimens taken from the bodies of the two men killed were found putrified, and could not be analyzed, but blood samples from the clothing of the two men indicated that the blood of Harris belonged to Group A, and that of Ahnstrom to Group O. Blood on the axe was from both groups. Jones' blood also was Group O, but the blood on his broken glasses, found near Harris' body, was Group A, as were particles of blood found on the ground between the two cabins and inside the Felix cabin. Jones' shirt, found laid over Ahnstrom's body showed two groups of blood. On the left sleeve, apparently splashed or spurted on, was blood of Group A. On the back of the shirt apparently soaked in was blood of Group O.
Jones testified in his own behalf in general corroborating the government's witnesses as to the events leading up to the time he and Harris were ordered out of the Felix cabin. He said that he met Harris on the day they went to the Little Gerstle at about 11 o'clock in the forenoon. He had never known him previously. They drank beer together most of the day and toward evening Harris arranged for the trip to the Little Gerstle. On the trip, he said they bought two fifths of whiskey, some of which they drank from coca cola bottles. They continued to drink in the Felix cabin. He testified that his mind became a complete blank after they left the cabin until just before sunrise the next morning — about 2:30 A.M., when he came to, lying in the brush outside of the Felix cabin. He had on two pairs of pants and a shirt, none of which he had ever seen before. Beside him was a blanket and a .22 calibre rifle and shells. He walked around and discovered both of the dead bodies. He became panicky and took to the woods carrying the blanket and rifle with him and hid out for about ten days, when he returned to the highway and was apprehended.
Jones testified that on one previous occasion he had "blacked out" for several hours after a drinking party and then learned he had been fighting. It did appear from the government's witnesses that the officers had found a place near one of the cabins where the grass was flattened down as though some one had lain there.
On cross-examination Jones admitted that he had previously been convicted of a crime. He denied positively that he had killed either Harris or Ahnstrom and testified that he had never seen either of them prior to the date in question.
The court instructed the jury with respect to intoxication...
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