State v. Journey

• Decision Date: 12 July 1932
• Citation: 161 A. 515,115 Conn. 344
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE v. JOURNEY.

161 A. 515

115 Conn. 344

STATE v. JOURNEY.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

July 12, 1932

Appeal from Superior Court, Fairfield County; John Rufus Booth Judge.

Joseph Journey was found guilty under an indictment charging him with the crime of murder in the first degree, and he appeals.

Error and a new trial ordered.

David Goldstein and John T. Cullinan, both of Bridgeport (Joseph J Devine and John P. Flanagan, both of Bridgeport, on the brief), for appellant.

William H. Comley, State's Atty., of Bridgeport (Lorin W. Willis Asst. State's Atty., of Bridgeport, on the brief), for the State.

Argued before MALTBIE, C.J., and BANKS, HAINES, HINMAN, and AVERY, JJ.

BANKS J.

The accused appeals from the denial of his motion to set aside the verdict, the refusal of the court to charge as requested by him, and a single ruling on evidence. Upon the evidence offered by the state the jury might reasonably have found the following facts: On March 10, 1932, at about 9:30 in the morning, a fire was discovered in an old barn upon an abandoned property in the town of Easton known as the old Logan place. When the firemen arrived, the barn, except for the larger timbers, was practically destroyed. The firemen discovered upon a pile of half-burned hay within the ruins of the barn the body of a human being which was burned beyond recognition. A small portion of the vest and trousers on the front of the body which had been pressed against the hay had not been burned, and in the vest was found a post card addressed to Frank Buda. A medical examination of the body disclosed that death had not been caused by the flames but by gun shot wounds. Two fragments of lead which looked like buckshot were taken from the neck. They had entered the neck just below the ear and back of the angle of the jaw. They caused death by fracturing the upper cervical veritable and the base of the skull. Under the hay, some five or six feet from the body, were found the charred remains of a double barreled shot gun containing two shells which had been discharged by the firing of this gun. Frank Buda had left his home in Bridgeport about 7 o'clock on the morning of the fire stating that he was going to work for the accused at the latter's place in Bridgeport known as " Journey's Inn." And shortly after that hour was seen walking in that general direction. He wore clothing some of which was later found beneath the dead body in the barn, and had in his pocket the post card which had been received by him at his home. The accused owned a small black coupe automobile on either side of which in gilt letters were the words " Journey's Inn Bridgeport." At about 7:45 on the morning of the fire, the accused, driving the care thus marked and with a passenger seated beside him, bought four gallons of gasoline at a filling station upon a road which was upon the direct route from Journey's Inn to the old Logan place which was fourteen or fifteen miles distant. Shortly thereafter the accused was seen by several witnesses driving his car with a passenger in the direction of Easton center and the old Logan place. Two of these witnesses were school boys who identified the accused as the driver of the car, and testified that they saw in the car, between him and the passenger, what appeared to be a double barreled shot gun. About 8:30 on the same morning the accused was seen driving along in a direction away from the Logan place, and about half an hour later was again seen, still alone, but this time proceeding toward the Logan place. The woman who discovered the fire saw a small coupé driving away from the barn a few minutes before 9:00 and in a moment saw smoke and flames coming from the building. About 10:30 the accused was seen driving alone on the road leading towards Bridgeport. The accused in the latter part of November, 1931, owned a double barreled hammerless shot gun, but no gun was found in his home after the fire. The accused was questioned on the morning following the fire but denied all knowledge of the crime, and denied that his car had left the garage on the morning of the fire. On March 13th he was again questioned and was told of the number of witnesses who had seen him in the vicinity of Easton on the morning of March 10th, and then admitted to a state policeman and a constable of the town of Easton that he had killed Buda, but had no good reason for doing so.

Upon the trial the accused, upon his direct examination, after formed inquiry as to his name, address, and business, was asked but two questions-first, whether the had anything to do directly or indirectly with the killing of the man who was found dead in the barn in Easton, and, second, whether he had ever told the state policeman that he had killed that man both of which he answered in the negative. Upon cross-examination he testified that he got up that morning a little after seven, but did not leave the Inn until about ten minutes of eleven. His wife testified that he did not get up that morning until 9 o'clock and another witness for the defense testified that he saw the accused in his yard a few minutes after 8 o'clock, but was not sure whether that was the morning of March 10th or March 11th. The accused's defense of an alibi was weak and inconclusive, and the jury were amply justified in believing the testimony of the state's witnesses as to his movements on the morning of the commission of the crime. The state produced no witness who saw the accused enter or leave the barn, and no evidence of any motive he may have had for...