Reeves v. Territory Oklahoma
Decision Date | 30 June 1900 |
Citation | 10 Okla. 194,61 P. 828,1900 OK 79 |
Parties | JOHN REEVES v. TERRITORY OF OKLAHOMA. |
Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
Error from the District Court of Canadian County; before John C. Tarsney, District Judge
¶0 1. INDICTMENT FOR MURDER--Burden of Proof on Defendant, When. Where an indictment for murder contains an averment "that Milton Jones was shot and killed by one of three escaping prisoners, but which one is to the grand jury unknown," and no evidence whatever upon the subject is offered by either the prosecution or the defendant, the verity of the averment of want or knowledge in the grand jury is presumed, and the burden is on the defendant to show that the grand jury at the time the indictment was found knew the name of the person described as unknown.
2. HOMICIDE--Murder, When. Homicide under the statutes of this Territory, is murder when perpetrated without any design to effect death by a person engaged in the commission of a felony.
3. FELONY, AIDING IN PRISONERS ESCAPE CONSTITUTES. Under the laws of this Territory it is a felony for any person who carries or sends into any prison anything useful to aid any prisoner in making his escape, and with intent thereby to facilitate the escape of any prisoner confined therein, where such prisoner is confined upon any charge or conviction of a felony.
4. CONSPIRACY--Presumption Concerning. Where several persons confederated together to commit a crime of a nature or under such circumstances as will when tested by human experience, probably result in the taking of human life if such necessity should ar se to thwart them in the execution of their unlawful plans, it must be presumed that they all understood the consequences which might be reasonably expected to flow from carrying into effect their unlawful combination, and to have assented to the taking of human life if necessary to accomplish such unlawful act. And if death happens in the prosecution of such a common design or object, all are alike guilty of a homicide.
5. FELONY--Persons Concerned in, Principals. Under the laws of this Territory, all persons concerned in the commission of a felony, whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, or aid and abet in its commission, though not present, must be indic ted, tried and punished as principals.
6. INSTRUCTIONS TO JURY--Law Correctly Stated. The Court gave the jury the following instruction over the objections of the defendant, and which is assigned as error: "You are further instructed that if you believe from the evidence in this case beyond a reasonable doubt, that on and prior to the said 30th day of June, 1893, William Christian, Robert Christian and James Casey, named in this indictment were confined as prisoners in the common jail and prison of and in the county of Oklahoma and Territory of Oklahoma, the said William and Robert Christian upon an order and commitment upon and after the conviction of the crime of manslaughter, and the said James Casey upon a commitment and indictment charging him the sad James Casey with the crime of murder, then the said William Christian, Robert Christian and James Casey were lawfully imprisoned in said county Jail and prison; and if you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant herein, John Reeves, did carry or place or cause to be carried or placed or in any manner aid or assist in carrying or placing in the said jail and in the possession of the said William Christian, Robert Christian and James Casey, any pistols, revolvers and ammunition with the design and intent that they the said William Christian, Robert Christian or James Casey or either of them, should use or employ such pistols, revolvers, ammunition or any of them, as a means and for the purpose of breaking out of said jail and prison and escaping therefrom; and if you further believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the said William Christian, Robert Christian and James Casey, acting conjointly and together and with a common purpose to secure the liberty from such imprisonment of each of said prisoners, did break out of said jail and attempt to escape therefrom and that they the said William Christian, Robert Christian and James Casey, or either of them, in breaking out of said jail, or in their immediate flight therefrom, in escaping therefrom did with the said pistols and revolvers or any of them, shoot and kill the deceased, Milton Jones, in manner and form as charged in this indictment and in furtherance of their said design and purpose to escape from such imprisonment, then you will find the defendant John Reeves guilty of murder as charged in the third count of this indictment, although the jury may believe from the evidence that the fatal shot which killed him the said Milton Jones was not fired and discharged with premeditated design to effect the death of him the said Milton Jones." Held, That no error was committed in giving this instruction, and that it clearly, fairly and correctly states the law applicable to the case under consideration.
7. EVIDENCE CONCLUSIVE--Rule Applied. We have carefully examined the entire record, and we are clearly of the opinion that the evidence fully sustains the verdict of the jury, and that there is no prejudicial error in the record.
A. Green & Son, for plaintiff in error.
J. C. Strang, Attorney General, for defendant in error.
¶1 The plaintiff in error, John Reeves, was indicted in the district court of Oklahoma county, charging him with the murder of one Milton Jones, on the 30th of June, 1895. Upon application of the defendant a change of venue was granted to Canadian county, where the defendant was tried and convicted of murder, as charged in the third count of the indictment, and acquitted on the first and second counts thereof, and his punishment was fixed by the jury at imprisonment in the territorial penitentiary for life, at hard labor. On the 15th day of February, 1897, the court sentenced the defendant in accordance with the verdict of the jury to imprisonment in the territorial prison at Lansing, Kansas, for the term of his natural life, at hard labor.
¶2 The third count of the indictment, upon which the defendant was convicted, reads as follows:
¶3 It is first contended by counsel for plaintiff in error that the allegation of the indictment, "that Milton Jones was shot and killed by one of three escaping prisoners, but which one is to the grand jury unknown," is a material averment of the indictment, and permitted from necessity, and that it must be proved by the prosecution in order to sustain a conviction. That if the grand jury by asking any witness before them, or the exercise of reasonable diligence, could have ascertained the fact, it is fatal, and the defendant must be discharged.
¶4 We do not think that this contention is sound or tenable. There was no evidence whatever offered either on behalf of the prosecution or the defendant that the person who shot and killed Milton Jones was known to the grand jury at the time of the finding of the indictment. We think that in the absence of any evidence upon that subject it is presumed that the grand jury had no such knowledge. We think that the better doctrine and true rule is that where there is an averment in the indictment that the person who committed the homicidal act is unknown to the grand jury, and no evidence is offered by either the prosecution or the defendant, the verity of the averment of want of knowledge in the grand jury is presumed, and the burden is upon the defendant to show that the grand jury at the time the indictment was found knew the name of the person described as unknown. This is the rule laid down by the supreme court of the United States in the case of Coffin v. United States, 156 U.S. 432...
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... ... guilty as principal. (People v. Mills, 41 Misc. 195, ... 83 N.Y.S. 947; Drury v. Territory, 9 Okla. 398, 60 ... P. 101; Reeves v. Territory, 10 Okla. 194, 61 P ... 828.) "All who ... ...
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Reeves v. Territory
... 61 P. 828 10 Okla. 194, 1900 OK 79 REEVES v. TERRITORY. Supreme Court of Oklahoma June 30, 1900 ... Syllabus ... by the Court ... 1 ... Where an indictment for murder contains an averment ... "that Milton Jones was shot and killed by one of three ... escaping prisoners, but which one is to the grand jury ... unknown," and no ... ...