State v. Bowen

Citation153 S.W. 1033
PartiesSTATE v. BOWEN.
Decision Date19 February 1913
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Missouri

Appeal from Circuit Court, Carter County; W. N. Evans, Judge.

Ed Bowen was convicted of statutory rape, and appeals. Reversed and remanded.

Prosecution for statutory rape alleged to have been committed upon one Naomi Headrick, a female child under the age of 14 years. The prosecution is based upon an indictment presented by the grand jury of Shannon county, Mo., on September 26, 1911. The case was tried in the circuit court of Carter county, Mo., to which county the venue was changed by an order made by the circuit court of Shannon county upon the application of the defendant. The case came on for trial in the circuit court of said Carter county at the April term and on the 10th day of April, 1912. The defendant was duly arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty. Thereupon the case was submitted to a jury, which jury in due course returned a verdict of guilty against the defendant, and assessed his punishment at imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term of 10 years. Timely motions for a new trial, and a so-called motion in arrest of judgment, were filed and overruled; and, following the latter action, judgment and sentence were duly pronounced against defendant in accordance with the verdict of the jury. We assume that since no supersedeas order was entered, and since defendant now prosecutes this appeal as a poor person, he is now confined in the penitentiary.

The testimony and other matters proper therein were preserved by a timely bill of exceptions, which was duly and legally made a part of the record, and which is before us. From this bill of exceptions, the facts shown by the testimony upon the trial seem to be substantially these: Naomi Headrick, upon whom the rape was charged to have been committed, was the stepdaughter of the defendant, and resided with defendant and defendant's wife, who was the mother of said Naomi, on a farm in Shannon county, Mo. Said Naomi died in Shannon county on August 27, 1911, at the age of 13 years and nine days. The cause of her death, as shown by the uncontradicted testimony, was peritonitis, superinduced by a miscarriage, wherein she was delivered of a fetus apparently some five or six months advanced.

Dr. O'Dell, a witness for the state, testified that on the morning of August 20th, about the middle of the day, he saw the girl Naomi professionally; found her suffering with an acute gastric disturbance of the stomach and bowels, indicating a cholera morbus condition, accompanied by vomiting and purging; that she was about five months advanced in pregnancy; but that he is not, and says that he could not be, certain as to the exact time. This witness saw her again on August 23d, and found her bordering on peritonitis. He again saw her on August 25th, and discovered that she had miscarried late in the afternoon of August 23d; that she then had (that is, on August 25th) a well-developed case of peritonitis. This witness saw her again on August 27th, found her rapidly failing, and says that she died on that evening. This physician further says that peritonitis may often occur as a result of taking drastic and irritating medicine.

Dr. Chilton, a witness for the state, testified touching a consultation that defendant had with him as to the condition of Naomi. In this conversation defendant spoke of a swelling or dropsical condition from which she was suffering, stating to the doctor that this condition had existed for some four or five months, and that it had come on gradually. Being asked as to the girl's monthly periods, he stated that there had been five or six months during which these had not occurred, but that prior to that time she had been regular. Defendant stated to this physician that his wife thought perhaps the girl was pregnant, but that he (defendant) did not know anything about it. Questioned by the physician as to whether the girl had been keeping company with any boys, he said that she had not, and that there was no possibility of any boys having come there. Some medicine of an unnamed sort was given to Bowen by this witness for the girl; but the nature thereof (except the statement of the physician that it was harmless, her condition considered) does not appear.

James Tripp, a justice of the peace of Shannon county, testifying for the state, says, in substance, that on August 11, 1911, a short time before Naomi became ill, defendant told him that he had procured a bottle of calomel while he was in town, and made inquiry of the witness Tripp as to how the same should be issued or dosed. This witness also testifies as to the escape of the defendant from the custody of persons to whom the witness Tripp, as justice of the peace, had delivered defendant, after the latter's arrest upon this charge.

Further there was uncontradicted evidence from other witnesses as to the fact that, while in custody charged with this offense defendant escaped from his custodians and fled the country. Some months afterward defendant was found at Truman, Ark., passing under the assumed name of John Martin. He was arrested in Arkansas, and brought back by the sheriff of Carter county prior to the trial. It may be said in passing, and in fairness to the defendant, that he explains his flight upon the theory that he fled in order to escape mob violence, threats of which reached him for the first time a few minutes before his escape from the officers. As to the existence of this mob sentiment in the community and of reports thereof having reached defendant, he is corroborated by three other witnesses whom he offered, and who say, in substance, that there was general talk in the community to the effect that defendant ought to be mobbed or hung; but that no one took any steps toward organizing such mob, though one of these latter witnesses states that he was informed, before defendant fled, that the mob was actually forming.

The record contains no evidence of actual access to Naomi Headrick by the defendant; nor are there shown any actions whatever on the part of the defendant toward Naomi indicating that his relations toward her were not those simply of a stepfather to a stepdaughter residing in his family. However, this exclusion of opportunity applies also to the other males in the community, since the record shows that the girl kept no company with the boys in the neighborhood, and that she "had no beaux," as one witness expresses it. It is shown, however, by one witness, that on the 28th of February, 1911, defendant and Naomi were together by themselves in a cornfield for some two hours.

Outside of the facts above stated, the testimony upon which the state relies for a conviction was in its nature circumstantial, and it consisted wholly in statements and admissions of the defendant, not amounting to absolute or definite confession of the fact.

Defendant is found on the day that Naomi was buried asking those present there to pray for him; and, putting it in their words, he said, "Pray for me, and pray for me hard." This testimony, and all of it, comes from the relatives of defendant. Calvin Lane, defendant's brother-in-law, states that about August 10th, a few days prior to the beginning of Naomi's illness, defendant told him that he thought Naomi was in a family way. This witness further states that,...

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16 cases
  • State v. Piskorski
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Connecticut
    • 19 Junio 1979
    ...must be examined. State v. Hephner, 161 N.W.2d 714, 719 (Iowa); Commonwealth v. West, 312 Mass. 438, 440, 45 N.E.2d 260; State v. Bowen, 247 Mo. 584, 598, 153 S.W. 1033; 3A Wigmore, op. cit.; 98 C.J.S., Witnesses, supra. Moreover, statements from which a possible inference of inconsistency ......
  • State v. Hogan, 38428.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Missouri
    • 7 Febrero 1944
    ......James, Jr., for appellant.         (1) The court erred in permitting the State to cross-examine its witness, Roy Johnson without any showing that he was a hostile witness and without any foundation being laid to show entrapment or surprise. 70 C.J. 801, sec. 1007; State v. Bowen, 263 Mo. 279, 172 S.W. 367; State v. Burks, 132 Mo. 363, 34 S.W. 48; Shackleford v. State, 27 S.W. 8; People v. Mitchell, 94 Cal. 550; Hickory v. United States, 151 U.S. 303; 70 C.J. 796, sec. 933; Woelfle v. Connecticut Mut. Life Ins. Co., 234 Mo. App. 135, 112 S.W. (2d) 865; Clancy v. St. Louis ......
  • Norton v. Johnson
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Missouri
    • 9 Enero 1950
    ...218; Van Verth v. Loose-Wiles Cracker & Candy Co., 155 Mo.App. 299, 136 S.W. 724; Warren v. Giudici, Mo.App., 9 S.W.2d 541; State v. Bowen, 247 Mo. 584, 153 S.W. 1033. There is nothing in either of the cases cited that would support a ruling that reversible error was committed by reading fr......
  • State v. Richardson, 13740
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Connecticut
    • 1 Mayo 1990
    ...State v. Hephner, 161 N.W.2d 714, 719 (Iowa [1968]; Commonwealth v. West, 312 Mass. 438, 440, 45 N.E.2d 260 [1942]; State v. Bowen, 247 Mo. 584, 598, 153 S.W. 1033 [1913]; 3A Wigmore, op. cit.; 98 C.J.S., Witnesses, supra. Moreover, statements from which a possible inference of inconsistenc......
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