Roath v. State
| Decision Date | 13 June 1932 |
| Docket Number | Crim. 3791 |
| Citation | 50 S.W.2d 985,185 Ark. 1039 |
| Parties | ROATH v. STATE |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Appeal from Pulaski Circuit Court, First Division; Abner McGehee Judge; reversed.
Reversed and remanded.
Floyd Terral, for appellant.
Hal L. Norwood, Attorney General, and Pat Mehaffy, Assistant, for appellee.
Luther Lindsey was killed about three miles out of the city of North Little Rock between eight and nine o'clock on the evening of August 8, 1931. Clyde S. Roath, the appellant, and Mrs Mary A. Griffin were jointly charged with his murder. A severance was granted, and the appellant placed on trial which resulted in the conviction of the appellant and sentence to imprisonment in the State penitentiary for life.
The testimony introduced on the part of the State, independent of that of Mrs. Griffin, tended to establish the following facts: Mrs. Griffin was in the employ of Dr. Roath as an assistant in his office, and had been so employed for several years. She was a married woman, but was separated from her husband.
Mrs. Griffin had an appointment with Luther Lindsey to meet him near a school house in North Little Rock, the time for the meeting being eight o'clock, P. M. About eight thirty P. M., Mrs. Griffin was discovered a distance from North Little Rock walking on the highway in the direction of the city. Four young men who were driving an automobile, seeing her, stopped their car, and Mrs. Griffin asked to be carried back to town, explaining that she had been out driving with two men; that they had tried to "get funny," and she had gotten out of the car and started back to the city. One of the young men in the automobile noticed a purse Mrs. Griffin was carrying and testified that it appeared to be "bulging." At her request she was driven to a drug store at 5th and Main streets, about six blocks from Dr. Roath's office. She got out of the car there and left, walking in the direction of Dr. Roath's office.
A short time after Mrs. Griffin reached Dr. Roath's office and went in, Dr. Roath was seen to enter his office with his medicine case in his hand. About nine or nine-thirty P. M., Mrs. Griffin called her home, and told some one there to come to Dr. Roath's office for her. After this, Dr. Roath called Mrs. Griffin's home and said that they need not come for her--that he would bring her out himself. Dr. Roath received an emergency call and went to attend a child who was choking. He went to the home of the child's parents in response to this call, reaching there about 9:40, and remained there some ten or fifteen minutes and, having given the child relief, left and entered his car. The child's father followed him to the porch and saw a woman sitting in the doctor's car whom he did not recognize.
Mr. Moore, the chief of police of North Little Rock, was away from his home after dinner until about eleven o'clock P. M., at which time he returned. He then learned that several telephone calls had been received at his house from some one who Wanted to speak to him, but no name was given. Soon after his return and after he had received the above information, the telephone rang again, and a man's voice asked for permission to come out there. The name of the caller was not given, but just then another person spoke over the 'phone who said that she was Mrs. Griffin, and that her business with the chief was imperative. She was then given permission to come. Soon after that she arrived and entered Chief Moore's house alone, and told the chief, among other things, that Dr. Roath had brought her out there, and that he was then outside waiting in the car. She told the chief about the killing of Luther Lindsey, and, at the chief's suggestion, she was driven by Dr. Roath, first to police headquarters, and then led the way out to a highway beyond the city limits, and from thence to a point a few yards beyond what is commonly called "The Gravel Pit." There Lindsey's car was found on the side of the highway, and his dead body in the car lying forward on the driver's seat face downward. An examination of the body made soon thereafter disclosed that Lindsey had been killed by a thirty-eight calibre pistol bullet which entered the car from the rear breaking the back window and entering Lindsey's back and penetrating his heart.
A considerable number of persons, members of the police force of North Little Rock, and some officers from Little Rock had accompanied Dr. Roath and Mrs. Griffin to the scene of the homicide. All of these were present when the dead body of Lindsey was found, and some of them began to question Mrs. Griffin in the presence of Dr. Roath. Dr. Roath appeared excited and nervous, and advised Mrs. Griffin in the presence of the officers not to tell the newspapers or the officers anything--that she could only be held for a time as a suspect, and that he would be down to see about it. This statement appears to have been made at a time when the officer had indicated that he was going to take Mrs. Griffin in charge and take her down to his office. As the officer and Mrs. Griffin were preparing to go, she extended her purse to Dr. Roath who reached for it--"snatched it," the officer said. This officer, instead of letting Dr. Roath take the purse, took it himself, but it was not shown that the purse contained anything out of the ordinary.
In addition to the above facts, about which there is little, if any, dispute, two women employed at the Mayflower Dairy which was located in the same block as Dr. Roath's office about two hundred feet away, testified that at about eight o'clock on the evening of the homicide they saw Dr. Roath and Mrs. Griffin in Dr. Roath's car passing in front of the Mayflower Dairy. A man, the superintendent of the Mayflower Dairy, was said by the two women to have been with them standing or sitting in front of the dairy when Dr. Roath and Mrs. Griffin were seen together on that evening. This man testified as to having seen Dr. Roath in his car at about the time stated by the two women, which, he said, was about ten minutes before eight o'clock. This witness, however, was not positive that Mrs. Griffin was in the car with Dr. Roath.
Mrs. Griffin was an employee of Dr. Roath, and had been working in his office for two years or longer. She acted as his office girl, bookkeeper and as nurse for such of his patients as needed her services and would accompany the doctor and assist him in all obstetrical cases. She remained on duty in his office and in the discharge of her other duties every day and frequently in the evening. It was in evidence that Dr. Roath would be seen often with Mrs. Griffin in his car and would also be seen on a number of occasions going to or returning from Mrs. Griffin's home; that at least on one occasion while at her home he appeared to become impatient or angry. One witness, Ralph Mara, when asked, in connection with his testimony about Dr. Roath coming to Mrs. Griffin's while witness was there, if he had ever heard the doctor and Mrs. Griffin fussing, stated, "No, sir--the only thing I ever heard him say--he came there one night as we were getting ready to leave, he cursed and said, 'God damn, ain't you ready?'" Witness did not say what was the occasion for the doctor's impatience or to whom he was addressing his remark.
A witness Mrs. F. A. Matthews, in addition to having testified that, on a few occasions when Mrs. Griffin was visiting at her house in the evening, Dr. Roath would come there for her and take her away. She also stated that one night when Mrs. Griffin visited her she had her neck bandaged up and there was a blue place on her arm.
Another woman, Mrs. Ruby Counts, stated that she had seen blue marks on Mrs. Griffin's arm.
The above, in substance, is the evidence introduced on the part of the State, except it may be said that Lindsey's pistol was found on the car seat under his body with three chambers carrying empty shells and that there was sand on the pistol which had been seen the afternoon of the day of the homicide in Lindsey's possession, bright and clean, and with all chambers carrying loaded shells. There was further testimony on behalf of the State given by Mrs. Griffin's daughter, to the effect that her mother dined at home on the evening of the killing, and after dinner, and a short time before eight o'clock, the witness, at her mother's request, drove Mrs. Griffin to a point right near the Clendenning schoolhouse, where she got out of the car and walked to the schoolhouse.
There was additional testimony to the effect that it required ten minutes to drive a car from the gravel pit to Mrs. Robinson's home, where Mrs. Robinson testified that Dr. Roath was, at eight-thirty, visiting her sick child.
Mrs Griffin testified at the trial of Dr. Roath in substance to the following facts: that she had had intimate relations with Dr. Roath and with Lindsey, and that the doctor was jealous of Lindsey, and had on more than one occasion reproached her for her relations with Lindsey and did her physical violence because of Lindsey's attentions to her. She stated that she told the doctor that she was going to a picture show that night, and he told her then that if she had a date with Lindsey it would just be too damn bad, and that if she didn't stop going with him some one would be killed; that when she and Lindsey arrived at the gravel pit they saw a car standing there which resembled a Buick sedan owned and driven by Dr. Roath, and that either in the act of getting in or out of the car was a man who had on a light colored hat, shirt and trousers; that the Doctor on that day wore a panama hat and was dressed in light colored garments; that as they approached and Lindsey saw the car, he said, "Somebody has beat us here, and we will...
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