People v. Scott

• Decision Date: 21 October 1918
• Docket Number: No. 12246.,12246.
• Citation: 284 Ill. 465,120 N.E. 553
• Parties: PEOPLE v. SCOTT et al.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

284 Ill. 465

120 N.E. 553

PEOPLE

v.SCOTT et al.

No. 12246.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Oct. 21, 1918.

Error to Circuit Court, Hardin County; Charles H. Miller, Judge.

E. T. Scott and Horatio Scott were convicted of manslaughter and murder respectively, and they bring error. Reversed and remanded.

W. H. Rittenhouse, of Chicago, and James A. Watson, of Elizabethtown, for plaintiffs in error.

Edward J. Brundage, Atty. Gen., Edward C. Fitch, of Chicago, and Clarence E. Soward, of Springfield, for the People.

CARTER, J.

At the March term, 1918, of the Hardin county circuit court plaintiffs in error, E. T. Scott and Horatio Scott, tried for the killing of Claude Ball at Tower Rock schoolhouse, in said county, on October 16, 1916. The jury returned a verdict finding E. T. Scott guilty of manslaughter and finding Horatio Scott guilty of murder, fixing his punishment at imprisonment in the penitentiary for 25 years. Motions for new trial and in arrest of judgment were overruled, and judgment entered on the verdict as to both plaintiffs in error. They then sued out this writ of error.

E. T. Scott (called in the record Tom Scott) was president of the board of school directors of Tower Rock school district, a country district in said county. Horatio Scott (usually called in the record Ratio Scott) was his son. On the day of the killing a meeting was being held in said schoolhouse to investigate some trouble that had arisen in the school between E. T. Scott's children and their teacher. Scott had invited the other two directors and the county superintendent of schools, Miss Hattie Rittenhouse, to be present at this hearing. The teacher was a lady named Mrs. Ethel Blakely. She seemed to have had some difficulty with her husband, and at the time of the trial she called herself ‘Miss,’ apparently having been divorced or separated from her husband between the time she started to teach and the time of the trial. Scott's children insisted that the teacher had imposed upon them and had insulted them in reprimanding them for their conduct in school or as to not knowing their lessons. Scott became indignant over these charges and insisted on an investigation. The deceased, Claude Ball, a widower, was not a school director, but had children who were pupils in the school. He was not invited by any of the directors or the county superintendent to attend the meeting, but on the day of the hearing he appeared there, apparently as the champion of the teacher. The meeting was held at the schoolhouse on October 16, 1916, shortly after 1 o'clock. School had been in session that day, and the children were present, and most of them remained for the hearing. Tom Scott was a slight man in stature, weighing about 114 pounds, 65 years old at the time of the killing, and apparently of a very sensitive disposition and easily excited. The deceased was about 35 years old, weighing between 150 and 170 pounds, apparently strong and healthy. Horatio Scott was not in good health, as he was suffering from a double rupture and an abscess on his left arm. The deceased had lived for years a near neighbor to the Scotts and about three-quarters of a mile nearer the schoolhouse than did Tom Scott. Horatio, who was then 23 years of age, apparently lived on the same road on a farm between his father's home and that of the deceased. It appears from the evidence that the deceased had had trouble with Tom Scott some years before and had given him a severe beating, but the difference between them had quieted down since then, and they were apparently upon friendly terms. The deceas-had made some efforts to prevent the meeting to investigate the trouble between Scott's children and the teacher, and in the forenoon of the day of the meeting, as the testimony for plaintiffs in error tends to show, he told Tom Scott if he (Scott) went to the schoolhouse that afternoon his family had better take a mule along to haul him home, and Scott testified that Ball at that time displayed a revolver and said to him that he would do witness worse than he did before. Ball also stated to one of the directors whom he was trying to persuade not to attend the meeting that if old Tom (meaning Tom Scott) got to kicking around at the meeting he would knock him down. At the beginning of the interview between Tom Scott and Ball on the morning of the day of the trouble the county superintendent was present and heard part of the conversation, but left before the talk ended. During this talk Tom Scott became excited over some question connected with the trouble and whipped one of his children who was present.

The school building is located not far from a country church and cemetery. Some of the people who were coming to the meeting met on the steps of this church before they went to the schoolhouse, Tom Scott among the number, and apparently his son, Horatio, was also there. Ball had been at the schoolhouse before that, and came up to the church and had some conversation with Tom Scott. Both at the conversation in the morning between them and again later Ball said somebody had been talking about the teacher in an improper way. His statements would lead to the conclusion that he thought some one had said that the teacher had been at his house too much, and that their relations had not been proper. At both times this statement was made by Ball Tom Scott said that he had nothing to do with that kind of talk. After the talk in the morning Scott told his family what the deceased had threatened to do and talked with his son, Horatio, about it, and the son testified that on account of the trouble between his father and Ball and the threats made that morning he took his loaded revolver with him to the schoolhouse. As stated before, they met shortly after 1 o'clock in the schoolhouse. The building was a small frame one about 20 feet wide and 30 feet long, and contained four rows of double seats, the stove standing in the middle of the room. When the three directors were all in the room, with Ball and Horatio Scott and two or three other grown people besides the teacher and school children, Tom Scott went to the teacher's desk, called the meeting to order, and took charge of it, saying, in substance, that they all knew why they had met there; that he thought a great wrong had been done to his children, and he wanted to see it righted; that if his children were in the wrong he would get a whip and horsewhip them. When he said this the teacher walked up towards him and remarked, ‘You might as well get your buggy whip.’ Scott resented this statement of the teacher's, and the testimony is in conflict as to just what he said and did. Some say that he doubled his fist and acted as if he intended to strike her. The testimony is to the effect that he told her to ‘shut up,’ and that Ball came from the back of the room and said to him, ‘You would not impose on a woman, would you?’ There is testimony also to the effect that, when Ball came up to Tom Scott, Horatio Scott followed not far behind, but said nothing to Ball. The county superintendent of schools, Miss Hattie Rittenhouse, and one of the directors, J. M. Riley, told Ball and the teacher to go back and sit down; that they were going to settle the trouble quietly, and Horatio Scott advised his father to sit down and keep still. Ball and Horatio Scott both returned to the back part of the room, and the teacher went to the northeast corner of the room to quiet some children who had become somewhat excitedand were crying. Kate Scott, a daughter of Tom Scott, was then called on by him, and told her story in regard to the trouble with the teacher. At the conclusion of her statement the county superintendent asked her if that was all she had to say, and she answered, ‘Yes.’ The teacher then left the corner of the room, came down the north aisle, and said to the girl, ‘You had better go ahead and tell some more lies.’ Tom Scott then jumped up in the aisle and said to the county superintendent, ‘Miss Hattie, if you don't make her shut her mouth, I will knock her down.’ The evidence does not agree as to how far the teacher was from Tom Scott at that time, although all agree that there was at least a row of seats between them, and some of the testimony is that they were eight feet apart. There is some testimony also to the effect that Tom Scott doubled his fist. At about this time Ball came up behind Tom Scott and Struck him behind the left ear, knocking him over and down between the seats. The weight of the evidence is that he struck rather than pushed him, and the evidence tends to show that there was a bruise on Scott's ear and blood on the ear and jaw.

Just after Horatio Scott had told his father that he ought to sit down and keep quiet, and others had told Ball that he should go back and have the matter settled quietly, Tom Scott apparently quieted down, but said to his son, ‘Ratio, be ready when the time comes.’ Immediately after Ball pushed or knocked Tom Scott down between the seats Horatio Scott came up behind Ball with a drawn revolver and began to fire at him. Ball apparently turned toward him, and received one bullet in the corner of the mouth and another in his left breast; this being the fatal wound. He was also wounded in his hands. Ball and Horatio Scott engaged in a struggle, during which another revolver shot was fired, and the revolver was knocked to the floor. The struggle continued until the cloakroom was reached, at the east end of the building, when Ball sank to his knees, and died shortly after. There is some testimony on the part of the people that after some of the shots were fired Tom Scott took part in the struggle. There is also testimony on behalf of the defense by Horatio Scott and his sister that Ball about the time of the first shot, or a little before-just after the father fell between the seats-threw his hand to his hip pocket. Horatio Scott testified that he saw a revolver in Ball's hip pocket before they went...