State v. Macklin
| Decision Date | 14 October 1936 |
| Docket Number | No. 148.,148. |
| Citation | 187 S.E. 785,210 N.C. 496 |
| Parties | STATE. v. MACKLIN. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Appeal from Superior Court, Halifax County; E. H. Cranmer, Judge.
Evans Macklin was convicted of first-degree murder, and he appeals.
No error.
The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree, and from judgment imposing sentence of death, the defendant appealed.
W. B. Allsbrook, of Roanoke Rapids, for appellant.
A. A. F. Seawell, Atty. Gen, and Harry McMullan, Asst. Atty. Gen, for the State.
The defendant bases his appeal from the judgment pronounced upon two assignments of error, one to the court's refusal to allow defendant's motion for judgment of nonsuit, and the other to the court's action in permitting the state to offer in evidence as an exhibit the shotgun with which the state contended the deceased was slain.
The motion for judgment of nonsuit invokes the rule laid down in State v. Beal, 199 N.C. 278, 154 S.E. 604, and other cases, that the evidence must be considered in its most favorable light for the state. Succinctly stated, the evidence disclosed that about 3 a. m, February 16, 1936, the deceased, A. P. Moore, then chief of police of Scotland Neck, N. C, was shot down and almost instantly killed; that this occurred in front of the bank on a principal street in Scotland Neck; that the weapon used was a shotgun, fired from a distance of eight or ten inches, penetrating the right collar bone of deceased and severing his jugular vein; that there was an open vestibule at the entrance to the bank building, two steps up; that the course of the shot appeared to be slightly downward, indicating that deceased was shot from the ambush of the bank vestibule; that deceased had with him a dog, and that the sound of the fatal shot was followed by the howling of the dog.
It was further in evidence that the defendant had been arrested Saturday, February 15th (the day preceding the homicide) and released about 7 o'clock p. m.; that deceased as chief of police had arrested defendant two or three times, the last time two or three weeks before; that later, on the night of the 15th, about 11 or 12 o'clock, defendant went to his room at the house of a man named Dancy and got a single-barreled shotgun and six shells; that he then went to the home of a man named Williams, put the gun under the steps, and procured and drank some whisky; that he left there about 2:15 a. m, the 16th, with the gun, fired it twice, and left, going in the direction of Scotland Neck, some two miles distant, saying he was going to kill Mr. Moore that night; that he also said, "I am not only going to kill Mr. Moore but...
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State v. Bass
...her. Bass assigns the admission of this testimony as error. The assignment merits no discussion and is overruled. State v. Macklin, 210 N.C. 496, 187 S.E. 785 (1936). 'Any evidence which is relevant to the trial of a criminal action is admissible.' State v. Winford, 279 N.C. 58, 181 S.E.2d ......
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State v. Simmons, 44
...of a crime or in defense against an assault.' 1 Stansbury's North Carolina Evidence § 118 (Brandis rev. 1973).' In State v. Macklin, 210 N.C. 496, 187 S.E. 785, it was proved that the deceased was killed with a shotgun. A single-barrel shotgun was found in the defendant's room, and a witnes......
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State v. Miller
...of the pistol used to intimidate the victim and her companion. State v. Patterson, 284 N.C. 190, 200 S.E.2d 16 (1973); State v. Macklin, 210 N.C. 496, 187 S.E. 785 (1936). All the evidence tends to show a relevant connection between the pistol identified as State's Exhibit 1 and the crime c......
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State v. Boyd
...Wilson, 280 N.C. 674, 187 S.E.2d 22 (1972); State v. Fox, Supra; State v. Bass, 249 N.C. 209, 105 S.E.2d 645 (1958); State v. Macklin, 210 N.C. 496, 187 S.E. 785 (1936); McCormick, Evidence, § 212 at 527 (2d ed. 1972); 1 North Carolina Evidence 356, n. 11 (Brandis Revision Even if the chain......