State v. Goodwin

• Decision Date: 29 May 1917
• Citation: 195 S.W. 725,271 Mo. 73
• Parties: THE STATE v. A. W. GOODWIN, Appellant
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

195 S.W. 725

271 Mo. 73

THE STATE v. A. W. GOODWIN, Appellant

Supreme Court of Missouri, Second Division

May 29, 1917

Appeal from Dunklin Circuit Court. -- Hon. W. A. C. Walker, Judge.

Reversed and remanded.

Bradley & Bradley for appellant.

(1) The court erred in giving the instruction for the State on the subject of self-defense. (2) The court erred in permitting counsel for the State to continue asking leading questions in an endeavor to get before the jury incompetent matter. State v. Beckner, 194 Mo. 281; 2 Wigmore on Evidence, secs. 891, 992, 924; State v. Sibley, 131 Mo. 519; State v. Pollard, 174 Mo. 607. The court erred in not rebuking counsel for the State for asking incompetent questions and then withdrawing them. See authorities last above; State v. Baker, 262 Mo. 689; State v. Webb, 254 Mo. 414. (3) The court erred in permitting counsel for the State to interrogate the defendant on cross-examination, repeatedly and time and again about matters concerning which the defendant was not asked on direct examination. R. S. 1909, sec. 5242; State v Pfeifer, 267 Mo. 23; State v. Grant, 144 Mo 56; State v. Hathhorn, 166 Mo. 239; State v Hudspeth, 150 Mo. 31; State v. Bell, 212 Mo. 111; State v. Cook, 112 S.W. 712; State v. Sharp, 233 Mo. 284.

Frank W. McAllister, Attorney-General, and S. E. Skelley, Assistant Attorney-General, for the State.

(1) This instruction on self-defense is not prejudicial or misleading and is in form approved by this court. State v. Gee, 85 Mo. 650; State v. Parker, 106 Mo. 224. (2) The court committed no error in not rebuking counsel for the State for asking incompetent questions. State v. Moreaux, 254 Mo. 398. (3) The court committed no error in the cross-examination of the defendant. (a) The questions to which objections were overruled were properly based on matters gone into in the defendant's direct examination. (b) Where objection was sustained by the court the error, if any, was not sufficiently prejudicial to constitute reversible error.

WHITE, C. Roy, C., concurs.

OPINION

WHITE, C.

The appellant was found guilty of manslaughter in the fourth degree in the circuit court of Dunklin County, at the October Term, 1915. He was charged with killing one Robert M. Baskin. The affair took place at a logging camp of the Wisconsin Lumber Company, located on a spur track near a station known as Converse, on the Deering-Southwestern Railroad. The defendant was woods foreman of the lumber company, having general charge of the camp and of the men employed there. Baskin, the deceased, was one of the men employed and his duty was to scale logs. Baskin was a young man whose age was variously placed at from twenty to twenty-three years by the witnesses. Goodwin was a man of forty-five years of age, and had a wife and large family living at Deering.

The defendant had an office, combined with a sleeping apartment, in what is termed his "car," a building constructed in the shape of a box car, made so that it could be loaded upon a flat car and moved from place to place. In the camp it was set upon blocks about three or four feet high. This car was eight or nine feet wide and eighteen or twenty feet long. Goodwin had his office in one end of the car and his bed in the other end, there being a partition between the two parts. A porch extended along the end occupied as his office, and a door and two windows opened upon this porch, as also a door and two windows opened at the other end of this car. The car sat along-side the spur track and about eighteen or twenty feet from it. Forty or fifty yards away, and on the other side of the track, was what was called the "boarding house." It consisted of two or three cars similar to Goodwin's car, set together in such a way as to be convenient for its purpose. On that same side of the spur track, and a little distance away, was Baskin's car, where he kept a desk and also a bed where he slept.

The difficulty leading to the homicide took place in the forenoon of June 15, 1914, in the front part of Goodwin's car, where he had his desk. On that morning a young woman by the name of Vena Biggs, who formerly had been employed at the boarding house, was visiting the camp and went to Baskin's car, where she was sitting on the side of his desk engaged in a conversation with him when observed by Goodwin. There was some indication in the testimony that the character of this Vena Biggs had been questioned, and Goodwin, as he claimed, in the discharge of his duties as foreman of the camp, directed or requested Mrs. Kennedy, who conducted the boarding house, to call Vena Biggs away from Baskin's car. She did so. The girl came immediately to the boarding house, followed by Baskin, who inquired whether Goodwin had directed Mrs. Kennedy to call her. Upon receiving an affirmative answer, without comment of any kind, he went toward Goodwin's car.

It appears from the evidence that Baskin's connection with the company was about to be severed, whether by his own acts or whether he had been notified he would be discharged does not appear. At any rate it is apparent that he entertained very strong ill-feeling for Goodwin. Although he said nothing about his purpose in going to Goodwin's car, everyone about the boarding house seemed to know there was going to be a fight. The evidence is not clear as to what specific thing caused them to anticipate trouble, but the suggestion was made that there was going to be a fight and everybody was looking. When Baskin entered Goodwin's car he passed out of sight of three or four women watching from the boarding house, who were the only witnesses at that time to what occurred. They immediately heard sounds indicating a fight was in progress in Goodwin's office. Goodwin testified that Baskin walked into his office and without warning of any kind struck him while at his desk and before he noticed who was present, and continued to strike him several times until he struggled to his feet to defend himself; he then conducted his side of the fight as best he could until they got out on the porch in view of the witnesses at the boarding house. There the combat continued for a considerable time, and finally Goodwin was knocked off or fell off the porch with Baskin after him. Then the men were seen to be struggling in a ditch extending along the spur track within a few feet of the car. Afterwards they were on the porch again, and again were off. From some of the witnesses it appears that Baskin knocked Goodwin off the porch three times, or they fell off three times in the struggle, and at least twice Baskin had Goodwin down in the ditch.

It might be said that most of these three or four women failed to see the fight entirely through from beginning to end. One of them fainted; another was afraid there was going to be trouble and rushed, or was pushed, into her room; another went for her husband, and there appears to have been intervals when none of them were looking. After a time both men again appeared on the porch and Baskin had a pump handle in his hand. The evidence is conflicting as to just where he stood with this pump handle. He was either on the ground or standing on the steps of the porch or on the porch. A little before this one of the women, a Mrs. Miller went some distance to wake up her husband, who worked on the night shift, to have him come down there and separate the men. He appeared about the time the pump handle was brought into requisition, and attempted to separate them, but was unable to keep them apart. Out of an earnest and mutual desire for each other's hurt they rushed together again in spite of his efforts. According to Miller's testimony, Baskin struck over him at Goodwin with a pump handle and then struck Goodwin with it. About that time Goodwin went into the car and reappeared with a revolver in his left hand. For a few seconds everyone's recollection becomes blurred. Miller beat a hasty retreat at sight of the pistol. The women in the boarding house became confused in one way or another. The next definite act testified to was that Goodwin with the revolver in his hand, but not pointed at Baskin, made Baskin give up the pump handle. Baskin handed it to him, and at the same time Goodwin said, "You dirty rascal, if you don't get away from here I'll shoot you." It appears Goodwin then took his revolver back in the car and laid it down. Then he was seen a short time afterwards to strike Baskin with a pump handle. One or two witnesses say that he struck him on the head, but many of them say he struck him on the side. At that time they were down on some planks that ran across the ditch from the side of the car to the railroad track. Goodwin himself testified that after he took one pump handle from Baskin, Baskin got hold of another. It seems these pump handles were "sticking up" somewhere about the porch where they could easily be reached. He said he struck Baskin on the head while they were still struggling on the porch, that Baskin pulled him off and while they were struggling on the planks across the ditch he struck him on the side. Most of the witnesses saw the blow on the side, which did not appear to hurt Baskin. Immediately after that, however, Goodwin returned to his car, and Baskin sat down, or leaned over, for a moment and then went to his car. Shortly afterward Baskin returned to the boarding house and then went to his car again. A second time he returned to the boarding house and was unable to talk. He attempted to write, but could not write in an intelligible manner. This was explained afterwards by a physician as due to a blood clot forming on that part of the brain which affects the organs of speech. At any rate, a doctor was summoned, Baskin was taken to Memphis, was operated on and died in a day or two from a blow...