Stanley v. Com.
| Decision Date | 05 June 1964 |
| Citation | 380 S.W.2d 71 |
| Parties | Sue STANLEY, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
John W. Core, Lexington, M. C. Redwine, Jr., Winchester, for appellant.
Robert Matthews, Atty. Gen., Ray Corns, Asst. Atty. Gen., Frankfort, for appellee.
CLAY, Commissioner.
Appellant was convicted of murder and given a life sentence. Her principal contention on this appeal is that the court erred in failing to give an instruction on voluntary manslaughter.
One evening appellant and a friend she had been dating, Wade Tylor, were occupying a room in a motel. She had been drinking beer and he had been drinking whiskey. With her own pistol she shot Taylor six times, causing his death.
The only eyewitness to the incident was appellant, who testified at the trial. She stated that while she was seated on the bed, Taylor was attempting to fix the television. On top of it was a loaded pistol which had been placed there by him. It was owned by appellant but she had loaned it to him sometime before. Appellant picked up the firearm to look at it, whereupon Taylor 'grabbed' her. The gun went off.
Appellant testified she had no intention of shooting Taylor, there was no reason for him to grab her, and there had been no quarrel.
The court instructed the jury on murder and accidental shooting. The question is whether an additional instruction on voluntary manslaughter should have been given.
It is the well recognized rule in this state that if there is any evidence from which a reasonable inference may be drawn that the defendant in a homicide case is guilty of a lesser crime than murder, instructions should be given consistent therewith. Wagers v. Commonwealth, Ky., 256 S.W.2d 357; Lee v. Commonwealth, Ky., 329 S.W.2d 57.
If appellant's story were believed, she committed no crime. Disregarding her story, which a jury could do, we look to the circumstantial evidence to see if it would fairly support a finding of voluntary manslaughter as well as murder.
This was an unusal occurrence. Between the parties there existed a close and friendly relationship. If we do not believe appellant's story, the reason for this killing is obscure. Nothing indicates malice prior to the time the parties occupied the motel room. (They had been there about 2 1/2 hours.) It is conceivable that appellant for some reason decided to kill Taylor. An equally supportable theory is that under the influence of drink the parties took a sudden aversion to...
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...There was even less evidence of a struggle in Sewell v. Commonwealth, 284 Ky. 183, 144 S.W.2d 223 (1940), and in Stanley v. Commonwealth, Ky., 380 S.W.2d 71 (1964), yet a manslaughter instruction or instructions were required in both. In the absence of testimony by any person purporting to ......
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...in a homicide case is guilty of a lesser crime than murder, instructions should be given consistent therewith. See Stanley v. Commonwealth, Ky., 380 S.W.2d 71; Combs v. Commonwealth, Ky., 378 S.W.2d 626; Pennington v. Commonwealth, Ky., 344 S.W.2d 407; Lee v. Commonwealth, Ky., 329 S.W.2d 5......
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...that he might be guilty of a lesser crime than murder and, therefore, appropriate instructions were necessary. Stanley v. Commonwealth, Ky., 380 S.W.2d 71 (1964); Greenville v. Commonwealth, Ky., 467 S.W.2d 765 The judgment is affirmed. All concur. ...