People v. White
| Decision Date | 03 April 1924 |
| Docket Number | No. 15814.,15814. |
| Citation | 143 N.E. 108,311 Ill. 356 |
| Parties | PEOPLE v. WHITE. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Error to Circuit Court, Christian County; Thomas M. Jett, Judge.
Amelio White, alias Amelio Bianchi, was convicted of manslaughter, and brings error.
Affirmed.Hogan & Reese, of Taylorville, for plaintiff in error.
Edward J. Brundage, Atty. Gen., Edward E. Dowell, of Pana, and George C. Dixon, of Dixon (Harry B. Hershey, of Taylorville, of counsel), for the People.
This writ of error is prosecuted to review a judgment of conviction in the circuit court of Christian county of Amelio White, alias Amelio Bianchi, for the crime of manslaughter.
Defendant was indicted for the murder of William Motley on January 14, 1923. Motley was mayor of the village of Kincaid, and the homicide was committed in that village on a Saturday night, shortly after midnight, in the basement of a building where a dance had been going on on the floor above the basement. The building is a concrete block building facing north, and is 70 or 80 feet long north and south by about 30 feet wide east and west. Under the south end of the building there is a basement about 16 feet in width north and south. Sandwiches and liquor were sold in the basement while the dance was in progress, and it was visited by large numbers of the men attending the dance. There is a stairway leading from the inside of the south part of the building to the basement and an outside stairway leading from the rear of the building to the basement, at the bottom of which stairway is a wooden door opening into the basement. South of the building is an east and west alley, leading on the east to a street running north and south and on the west to the railroad station. Defendant is an Italian, and he and an Italian friend, Tony Dortanver, went to the dance together. They were in the basement when Motley and Harry Vancil, the village marshal, went down there a few minutes after midnight. Motley, who, as we have said, was mayor of the village, ordered the men to get out of the basement, as it was Sunday. Tony engaged in a controversy with him, and, as the witnesses say, rushed Motley, scuffled with him, grabbed him around the waist, and pinned his arms down by his side. Either from a blow or a push Motley staggered forward, and just as he did so he was shot in the forehead with a pistol, from which wound he died shortly afterwards. The shot that killed Motley was followed by 15 or 20 other shots, and Tony was found lying dead on the floor with a bullet hole near the top of his head, the bullet ranging downward and lodging in his teeth. Defendant denies he shot Motley, denies he had any gun, and very earnestly contends that the proof was not sufficient to sustain the conviction for manslaughter. He disappeared immediately after the shooting, and was located about three weeks later in Montreal, Canada, where he was arrested and returned for trial.
Vancil, the police officer, testified he and Motley went down into the basement together, Motley in front. Defendant and Tony were in the basement, and Tony started an argument with Motley, who asked him to be a good fellow and make no trouble. Motley walked over to the northeast corner of the basement, and Tony followed him. Using his language as abstracted:
‘Tony scuffled; he rushed in at Motley, and as he rushed in Amelio White [defendant] rushed in too; looked as though he pushed him, and he started to fall forward, and as he fell there was a shot fired; he fell straight out; his arms flew back; I seen the flash of the gun in between Amelio White, Tony Dortanver, and William Motley; immediately after he fell the two men turned and started firing at me; I mean the two men Tony and White; both had guns.’
Witness testified he started backing up the stairway and firing; that when he got to the top of the stairway he went to the southeast corner of the building. Percy Manuel and defendant came out. Defendant looked over to Mike Burk, and said, ‘You son of a bitch, if you tell what you seen in that basement you will be next;’ and turned to Manuel, and said, ‘You, too.’ Witness called to the defendant to stop, and he opened fire on the witness. He fired at him twice. That was in the back yard. Witness fired at defendantthree times as defendant disappeared. Witness testified he afterwards examined the basement for the marks of bullets. Over the top of the basement door, where he came out, there were two bullet holes in the cement wall and two in the top right over where he had been standing. The evidence shows that there were, all told, some 15 or more bullet holes in the basement near where the witness Motley, Tony, and defendant were. Neither this witness nor any other witness testified positively that defendant fired the shot which killed Motley; but a number of witnesses testified the flash of the pistol came from between defendant and Tony and Motley, and that they were very close to him, one on his right and one on his left.
Sam Mottershaw testified he was in the basement when Motley and Vancil came down and asked the crowd to leave. The witness left, went upstairs, and did not see the shooting, but heard several shots fired. He saw Vancil back out of the basement up the stairway, but did not see him shooting. Vancil went to the southeast corner of the building, and was about 2 1/2 feet from where witness was standing. Witness saw Percy Manuel come out, and then defendant came out. Defendant tapped Manuel on the shoulder and told him to keep still, and went south toward the alley. Defendant and Vancil fired some 3 or 4 or 5 shots at each other as the defendant was leaving. When defendant came out of the basement he had a gun in his hand.
Andrew Keirs, Jr., a boy 16 years old, testified he was in the basement when Tony rushed Motley and pushed him to the northeast corner. Defendant was near by. Witness heard the shot and saw Motley fall. He testified he saw the flash of two guns. One looked like it came from where Tony was when he whirled around from Motley; the other was close to where defendant was standing. Witness went up the stairs, and did not see defendant after that. He saw Vancil at the southeast corner of the building, and saw him fire at somebody, and the person he fired at fired back at Vancil twice. He could not tell who it was. Witness testified Tony fired toward Vancil after the first shot.
Harry McKenna testified, as several other witnesses did, about Tony scuffling with Motley after he was ordered to get out of the basement and the firing of a shot. He heard several other shots in succession, but by that time he was out of the basement.
A gun which had not been fired was found lying by the body of Motley, and a gun and brass knucks were found by the body of Tony, and a razor was sticking out of his pocket.
Dominic Dianasa, a boy 13 years old, living in Kincaid, testified that the morning after the homicide he went to the mine where his father worked, and on the way found a revolver. The place where he found it was east of the depot, toward Jeisyville, where the defendant lived. The gun was produced and identified, but was not offered in evidence.
Pete Maschio and wife testified defendant came to their house, where he roomed, between 1 and 2 o'clock in the morning, changed his clothes, and left, and did not return.
The witnesses are substantially agreed that defendant went to the dance in his shirt sleeves; that he wore no belt, and no one saw a gun on him before the shooting began.
Defendant testified in his own behalf that he was 26 years old. He came to Kincaid in August, 1919, and had been working in the mines. He roomed and boarded at Maschio's. in Jeisyville. He testified he wore no coat or hat when he was in the basement. He had no gun or weapon, and did not own one. He saw Tony and Motley quarreling, and could not understand why they got so angry, Motley had a gun in his hand, and ordered every one to get out. Pretty soon he heard shots and saw Motley and Tony, with guns, facing each other. Then there were more...
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