State v. Bruntlett

• Decision Date: 08 March 1949
• Docket Number: 47281.
• Citation: 36 N.W.2d 450,240 Iowa 338
• Parties: STATE v. BRUNTLETT.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

36 N.W.2d 450

240 Iowa 338

STATE v. BRUNTLETT.

No. 47281.

Supreme Court of Iowa

March 8, 1949

David E. Burrows, of Council Bluffs, for appellant.

Robert L. Larson, Atty. Gen., Don Hise, 1st Asst. Atty. Gen., and Don H. Jackson, Co. Atty., of Council Bluffs, for appellee.

WENNERSTRUM Justice.

The defendant was charged in an indictment returned by the Grand Jury of Pottawattamie County with the crime of first degree murder. It was therein alleged that the defendant, C. R. Bruntlett on or about the 8th day of December 1947, while in the perpetration or the attempt to perpetrate the robbery of Percy Smith, wilfully, deliberately and with malice aforethought killed him. The defendant later entered a plea of guilty. The court thereafter heard evidence for the purpose of ascertaining what the punishment should be. A sentence of death by hanging was imposed. The defendant has appealed from the judgment entered.

It is our duty, under Section 793.18, 1946 Code, to examine the record without regard to technical errors or defects which do not affect the substantial rights of the parties, and render such judgment on the record as the law demands. We have carefully scrutinized the entire proceeding and the evidence presented. Because of the imposition of the death penalty by the trial court we deem it advisable to set out a summarization of the matters presented to the trial court, as a basis for our ultimate consideration of the entire record, as well as the grounds submitted to us for our review.

The appellant was taken into custody on the day following the commission of the crime--December 9, 1947. On December 13, 1947, he admitted killing Smith under circumstances hereinafter related. The indictment was returned on January 8, 1948. On January 10, 1948, the appellant appeared in court with an attorney other than the one who later represented him in the trial court and entered a plea of 'not guilty.' He and his counsel were informed there would be an assignment of jury cases made on January 17, 1948. The case was assigned for trial for February 3, 1948.

It is shown by the clerk's transcript that on January 29, 1948 the appellant through his counsel, who now appears in this court in his behalf, filed a motion for continuance wherein it was stated that his attorney had been appointed during the midafternoon of January 27, 1948; that prior to said time appellant and his counsel had never known each other and had never conferred about the charge then pending. It was therein further stated that the crime charged was a serious one; that it would require a large amount of research and considerable time in investigating the various phases of the case on the part of his attorney; that the appellant was held without bail; that interviews between the appellant and his attorney were difficult and that it would be in the interests of a fair and impartial conduct of the trial if said cause was continued until the next term of court. The application for continuance was denied.

On February 3, 1948, the date on which the case against the appellant was set for trial he and his counsel appeared in open court where the appellant stated he desired to change his plea of 'not guilty' to that of 'guilty' to the charge of murder in the first degree; that he had been fully advised by his counsel as to his legal rights and that he had determined for himself to make such change in his plea. The court then set the next day, February 4th, as the time when both the state and the appellant could make such showing as they desired 'for the purpose of assisting the court in determining the punishment and the degree of murder to be adjudged against the defendant.' The court passed sentence and judgment on February 9, 1948.

The appellant at the time of the commission of the crime charged was a farmer 50 years of age and married. On or about November 30 1947, he borrowed a 22 rifle and seven shells from one of his neighbors. On the Friday prior to December 8th, which would be December 5th, he went to the home of Percy J. Smith and conferred with him. Earlier on this day and at a time when Mr. Smith was not at home, the appellant had been at the Smith residence and made inquiry of Mrs. Smith if her husband would be interested in the purchase of some cattle. On Monday, December 8th, he returned and he and Mr. Smith left about 7:00 o'clock in the morning. Later that day Mrs. Smith received a telephone call from Omaha and a man who identified himself as Lundgren informed her that her husband had gone to Kansas to buy cattle and would be back in two or three days.

By reason of the absence of Mr. Smith officers were called to investigate. It is shown the appellant cashed a check for $9800 drawn on the account of the deceased on which check there had been written 'for sixty head.' During the investigation the appellant informed the officers that he purchased the cattle he claimed to have sold to Smith at Norfolk, Nebraska. As a means of investigating this phase of the case, the sheriff and the special agent of the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation drove to Norfolk on December 13th. While these parties were there, according to the testimony of Max Studer, the special agent, the appellant admitted to him the following facts: That the story about the sixty head of cattle which he was supposed to have bought at Norfolk, Nebraska on Saturday, November 29th, was false; that he had made up that story to get Percy Smith to his farm; that he, the appellant, had lost a considerable amount of money gambling during the past three years, particularly during the past three months; that he had purchased a farm near Creston on which he owned a $5000 payment on February 1, 1948; that he picked Percy Smith as a person from whom he could obtain money because he knew he was worth a considerable amount of money; that on Friday, December 5th, he had gone to the Smith home to confer with Mr. Smith but he was not there during the morning which necessitated his return during the afternoon; that they talked about cattle and Smith said he would come out early Monday morning to look at the sixty head which Bruntlett had; that Bruntlett stated he would come and get him; that he did so about 7:00 o'clock on that day; that they went to the appellant's farm where he had some cattle in the yard and out in the field. Appellant further related in his admissions to the witness, Studer, that he was desperate for money and that he told Smith he knew he had a lot of it; that he took a 22 caliber rifle which he had in a small building and pointed it at Smith and threatened to kill him and forced him to make out a check for $9800 made payable to C. R. Bruntlett with a notation on it 'for sixty head'; that Smith gave the check to the appellant and then grabbed the rifle and tried to get it away from Bruntlett but the appellant succeeded in keeping him from doing so; that Smith kept coming towards Bruntlett and he then fired and hit Smith in the forehead with the first shot; that Smith went down on his knees and appellant then fired a second shot which killed the deceased. The appellant then, according to the testimony of Studer and the admissions made to him, dragged the body to a nearby cob pile and covered it with cobs; that he next took kerosene and poured it over the blood which was near a stock tank and set it afire until he thought all the blood had burned; that he then started a fire of the cob pile and tried to burn up the body, along with some dead animals; that he used cobs, boards, sacks and kerosene to do the burning; that he had difficulty in keeping the fire burning and he kept adding kerosene. The appellant then, according to the testimony of the witness, Studer, further admitted that after his noon meal that day he drove to Omaha from which place he called the Smith home; that he told Mrs. Smith her husband had gone to Kansas and when asked who was calling he stated Mr. Lundgren; that he informed Mrs. Smith her husband would be gone for two or three days; that he next went to a trucking company located south of Council Bluffs and arranged to have them haul 25 head of steers that he had to Omaha that evening; that he then went to the Council Bluffs Savings Bank to cash the Smith check; that he had $1825 in cash on deposit; that he paid a $4460 mortgage on the cattle which he had sold; that he took out $2165 in cash and a certified check in the amount of $5000 and closed his account with the bank. He then returned home and found that the fire was low and a considerable amount of the body was unburned; that he then used a corn knife cutting it up so it would burn faster and put more kerosene on it. He then stated in his admission that after this had occurred Richard Smith, a son of the deceased, and the son's wife, came to the appellant's yard and he told Richard his father had purchased sixty head of steers from him and had taken them to Omaha and he had not seen him since; that after Smith left he then hurried the fire as fast as possible thinking that Richard Smith would return; that Smith and his sister did later return to the appellant's farm and at that time appellant was putting water on the fire; that after Richard Smith had left the second time the appellant scraped up the unburned small bones and the ashes and carried them over to the edge of a cornfield where he scattered them.

There is testimony of the neighbor from whom the appellant had borrowed the gun; that on December 8, 1947, he saw a fire on the Bruntlett farm about 8:30 or a quarter of nine; that he still saw it burning about 10:30 (in the morning).

The witness L. H. Tyler, sheriff of Pottawattamie County testified to the conversations he had with the appellant and of admissions made in his presence which were...