People v. Gorman, 163.
| Decision Date | 02 December 1930 |
| Docket Number | No. 163.,163. |
| Citation | 233 N.W. 430,252 Mich. 603 |
| Parties | PEOPLE v. GORMAN. |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Error to Circuit Court, Oakland County; Frank L. Doty, Judge.
Roy Gorman was convicted of murder in the second degree, and he brings error.
Affirmed.
Argued before the Entire Bench.Frank Schwartz and Harry J. Connine, both of Detroit, for appellant.
Wilber M. Brucker, Atty. Gen., and Norman C. Orr, Pros. Atty., and Curt W. Augustine, Asst. Pros. Atty., both of Pontiac, for the People.
Defendant reviews by writ of error his conviction of murder in the second degree incident to the homicide of one George W. Townsend. Defendant had known deceased and his wife for several months prior to the commission of the offense. While recovering from an injury, Gorman resided in the Townsend home beginning in January, 1929, for a period of approximately six months. This seems to have led to some trouble between Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, and she complained to the prosecuting attorney that her husband was disagreeable to her because Gorman's presence in her household interfered with her devoting as much time to her husband as theretofore. In July, 1929, Gorman left the Townsend home, but in September he returned to Birmingham and roomed with a Mrs. Sturman. At this time Mr. Townsend and another man were operating a gasoline station in Birmingham and defendant seems to have visited this place daily. About 9 o'clock on the evening of September 19, Townsend and Gorman left the filling station in the former's Ford car. They made one short stop at a private dwelling. About 20 minutes after 9 Mr. Charles Callahan, while changing a tire at the side of the road, was passed by a Ford car equipped with a pick-up body and cab, as was Mr. Townsend's. There were two occupants in this car and Callahan took some notice of one who appeared to be intoxicated. Callahan resumed his journey in a westerly direction on Maple avenue. Between 10 and 15 minutes later, and about a mile in the direction he was going, he discovered Townsend lying on the edge of the pavement. He was unconscious and bleeding badly from the head and neck. Callahan promptly applied first aid and succeeded in restoring Townsend to consciousness. He asked who he was, and, upon receiving an indication from the injured man to do so, took from his pocket an envelope addressed to George Townsend at the Birmingham police department of which he had formerly been a member. He gave his name to Callahan and upon being asked how it happened said, ‘Gorman shot me.’ At Callahan's request, Townsend, while being supported by the former, wrote upon an envelope, ‘Gorman shot me,’ and on another envelope ‘Townsend, G. W.’ Over defendant's objections the conversation between these two men was testified to by Callahan and the two writings received in evidence. Appellant asserts this...
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People v. Schinzel, Docket No. 77-3422
...him less than ordinary intelligence." People v. Arnett, 239 Mich. 123, 131-132, 214 N.W. 231, 234 (1927). Likewise, in People v. Gorman, 252 Mich. 603, 233 N.W. 430 (1930), the court looked to the surrounding circumstances to reach the conclusion that decedent believed his death was "There ......
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People v. Williams
...not sense impending death would accord him less than ordinary intelligence.' (Emphasis by the Court.) See also People v. Gorman, 252 Mich. 603, 605--606, 233 N.W. 430 (1930). The evidence in this case clearly demonstrates that Mr. Rutledge sensed his impending death at the time he spoke the......
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...occasion deceased said: ‘I think I am going six feet under the ground.’ People v. Arnett, 239 Mich. 123, 214 N.W. 231;People v. Gorman, 252 Mich. 603, 233 N.W. 430. The fact that the embalming fluid and the rat poison analyzed were of then obtainable samples and not conclusively proven to b......
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People v. Johnson, 91
...death would accord him less than ordinary intelligence.' People v. Arnett, 239 Mich. 123, 132, 214 N.W. 231, 234, and People v. Gorman, 252 Mich. 603, 605, 233 N.W. 430. Other courts have accepted three widely divergent views. See annotated cases in 96 A.L.R. at page A well stated rule by t......