State v. Fowler
| Decision Date | 01 October 1945 |
| Docket Number | No. 39398.,39398. |
| Citation | 189 S.W.2d 549 |
| Parties | STATE v. FOWLER. |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Appeal from St. Louis Circuit Court; James F. Nangle, Judge.
Samuel Fowler was convicted of murder in the second degree, and he appeals.
Affirmed.
Emanuel Williams, of St. Louis, for appellant.
J. E. Taylor, Atty. Gen., and W. O. Jackson, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
The appellant was convicted of murder in the second degree in the Circuit Court of the city of St. Louis, Missouri, and his punishment was assessed at ten years' imprisonment in the State penitentiary.
The appellant has not filed a brief in this Court; we will, therefore, examine the assignments of error in his motion for a new trial.
In substance, his first assignment of error is that the Court erred in overruling his motion to declare a mistrial when, at the beginning of the trial, the assistant circuit attorney asked the jury what their verdict would be, based upon certain contingencies. In his motion for a new trial he cites the case of State v. Pinkston, 336 Mo. 614, 79 S.W.2d 1046, 1048. That case held that "an attorney should not, in advance, ask a juror to speculate upon what he would do and how his verdict might be influenced by certain contingencies that may later arise in the trial."
We quote from the record the concluding part of the opening statement on which appellant relies to sustain the assignment:
The prosecutor had detailed the facts he expected to prove; he made the assertion that the slapping of the girl by deceased was no justification for taking deceased's life, and he would, therefore, expect a verdict of guilty. By no stretch of the imagination could this statement be construed as an attempt to pledge the jury to return a verdict of guilty. The record does not sustain appellant's assignment.
The second assignment of error in appellant's motion for a new trial is to the effect that the verdict was against the evidence and was the result of passion and prejudice. The third assignment of error was ...
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State v. Chester
...State v. Green, Mo., 292 S.W.2d 283, 288(10); State v. Posey, 347 Mo. 1088, 1099--1100, 152 S.W.2d 34, 40(5, 6); State v. Fowler, Mo., 189 S.W.2d 549, 550(1); State v. Flinn, Mo., 96 S.W.2d 506, 509(2, 3); State v. White, Mo.App., 313 S.W.2d 47, 52(5). In the case at bar, the prosecutor's f......
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State v. Terry
...on good character as part of the law of the case 'when necessary.' That means when there is evidence on the subject. State v. Fowler, Mo., 189 S.W.2d 549, 550; State v. Moore, Mo., 303 S.W.2d 60, The following assignments in defendant's motion for new trial are too general to comply with th......
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State v. Cross, 48092
...on good character as part of the law of the case 'when necessary.' That means when there is evidence on the subject. State v. Fowler, Mo., 189 S.W.2d 549, 550; State v. Moore, Mo., 303 S.W.2d 60, 70.' State v. Terry, Mo., 325 S.W.2d 1, We have found no error in connection with those matters......
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State v. Turner
...Such an instruction is necessary only when there is evidence tending to show the good character of the defendant. State v. Fowler, Mo.Sup., 189 S.W.2d 549, 550. There was no evidence to that effect. Consequently, the assignment must be Error is assigned in the giving of the verdict directin......