Smith v. Com.
| Decision Date | 06 May 1966 |
| Citation | 402 S.W.2d 686 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
| Parties | Charles Burton SMITH, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee. |
Stuart L. Lyon, David Kaplan, Louisville, for appellant.
Robert Matthews, Atty. Gen., H. N. McTyeire, Asst. Atty. Gen., Frankfort, for appellee.
Charles Burton Smith was convicted of willful murder of Elizabeth Duncan and received a life sentence. On his appeal he urges that certain statements and a photo were wrongfully admitted into evidence.
Charles and his so-called common-law wife, Nancy Edna Phillips, went to the West End Sportsmen's Club on December 31, 1964, ostensibly to celebrate New Year's Eve. Their three small children were left at home in care of Elizabeth Duncan, an eighteen-year-old girl.
At approximately 10 p.m., appellant was driven to his home by Alford Alonzo Jackson. After having been in the house a short while appellant emerged and told Jackson to tell Nancy that he had driven appellant to the Bronze Lantern. Jackson next saw appellant near the West End Sportsmen's Club about 12:05 a.m. Appellant called Nancy aside and talked to her. She began crying and started walking home. At appellant's request Jackson took Nancy home. They found police officers there. The police were directed to appellant's whereabouts. He was arrested and returned to the scene of the crime. He was delivered into the hands of the officers to whom he later made a written statement. One of the officers testified that appellant volunteered information concerning the knife used in the homicide. The knife was found where appellant had said it was.
Nancy testified that the reason she cried was because appellant had said he thought he had 'done something' and asked her for money with which to leave town.
The dead body of Elizabeth Duncan was found face down on the sidewalk across the street from appellant's home. The victim had on a black elbow-length sleeve sweater, stockings, and a garter belt. There was a ten-inch laceration on the right side of the body about two inches above the hip. A big part of the large intestine was protruding. The victim had been cut or stabbed ten times, the fatal blow being a stab would in the heart. From around the body, in the gutter, across the street, on the fence, through the broken window, and through several rooms in appellant's residence there was a trial of blood, fatty tissue, parts of the intestine, and bowel matter. In the house near a couch a pair of stretch pants was found, turned inside out. On one leg was found some white panties rolled down in the same manner as the stretch pants, indicating, so an officer testified, that both articles had been removed at the same time. There were indications of a struggle in the room. A dress shirt, with the collar torn, and a T-shirt were found in the bathroom with blood and bowel matter smeared on them.
Appellant was arrested shortly after midnight. He was taken by officers to the police station after he had shown them where to find the knife he had used. About 2:25 a.m. he gave a written statement in which he admitted chasing the victim through the house with a kinfe and inflicting the wounds which caused the death of Elizabeth Duncan.
The statement signed by appellant contained the following prefatory and concluding parts:
The statement was taken by Officer Carl Corder. Detective James Bader was present part of the time. At a hearing in chambers held by the trial judge to determine the admissibility of the statement, Corder...
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