McQueen v. State, 4 Div. 764.

• Decision Date: 02 March 1943
• Docket Number: 4 Div. 764.
• Citation: 13 So.2d 59,31 Ala.App. 101
• Parties: McQUEEN v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Appeals

13 So.2d 59

31 Ala.App. 101

McQUEEN v. STATE.

4 Div. 764.

Alabama Court of Appeals

March 2, 1943

Rehearing Denied March 23, 1943.

E.O. Baldwin, of Andalusia, for appellant.

Wm N. McQueen, Acting Atty. Gen., and John J. Haynes, Asst Atty. Gen., for the State.

BRICKEN Presiding Judge.

The unfortunate tragedy involved in this prosecution was the result of a head-on collision between a 1929 roadster, driven by this appellant, and a 1939 Chevrolet automobile driven by the deceased, named in the indictment, Nathaniel Livings. Appellant was alone, in the decrepit car (as described) but in the car with Mr. Livings the testimony shows, were Mrs Livings, his wife and six other ladies. Deceased, his wife and a Mrs. Ballard were riding on the front seat of the Chevrolet car, and five ladies on the back seat. The detailed evidence of the res gestae disclosed, as stated, that Mr Livings was killed in the accident, and that three of the lady occupants of the car were also killed. The surviving four ladies were each badly wounded and crippled. The accident happened on the 2nd day of October, 1941, between 5:30 and 6 in the afternoon on the public highway (paved) between Andalusia and Opp, in Covington County. It appears from the evidence that this appellant was on his way to Andalusia, and the Livings car was traveling in the opposite direction, going East, toward the home of the occupants.

At the October, 1941, term of the circuit court, the grand jury found, and regularly returned into open court, an indictment against this appellant. The indictment contained three counts which charged him with the offense of manslaughter in the first degree. Said indictment, omitting formal parts and endorsements, reads as follows:

"1. The Grand Jury of said County charge that before the finding of this indictment James McQueen, alias Highpockets, unlawfully and intentionally, but without malice, killed Nathaniel Livings by running over him with an automobile.

"2. The Grand Jury of said County further charge that before the finding of this indictment James McQueen, alias Highpockets, unlawfully and intentionally, but without malice, killed Nathaniel Livings by striking him with an automobile.

"3. The Grand Jury of said County further charge that before the finding of this indictment James McQueen, alias Highpockets, unlawfully and intentionally, but without malice, killed Nathaniel Livings by driving an automobile into and upon a Chevrolet automobile in which the said Nathaniel Livings was riding in such a manner as to wreck the said Chevrolet automobile and thereby caused the death of said Nathaniel Livings, against the peace and dignity of the State of Alabama."

The cause was tried on August 6, 1942.

Before pleading to the merits the defendant filed demurrer to count 3 of the indictment. Said demurrer was properly overruled by the trial court. Hyde v State, 230 Ala. 243, 160 So. 237. The law is that an indictment must state the facts constituting the offense in ordinary and concise language, in such manner as to enable a person of common understanding to know what is intended. Words used in a statute to define an offense need not be strictly pursued in the indictment; it is sufficient to use other words conveying...