State v. Myers
| Decision Date | 24 January 1942 |
| Docket Number | 35358. |
| Citation | 121 P.2d 286,154 Kan. 648 |
| Parties | STATE v. MYERS et al. |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied March 13, 1942.
Syllabus by the Court.
Under statute, the crime of kidnapping in the second degree is complete when without lawful authority a person is forcibly seized with intent to secretly confine him in the state against his will. Gen.St.1935, 21-450.
A man is presumed to intend to do that which he in fact does do and he is presumed to intend the natural and probable consequences of his own voluntary acts.
Evidence supported conviction of kidnapping in the second degree. Gen.St.1935, 21-450.
Statements made by a defendant exculpatory in character, which related to subordinate facts, but which did not directly involve the guilt of defendant, were competent evidence against him as "admissions".
Generally physical objects which constitute a portion of a transaction or which serve to unfold or explain it may be exhibited in evidence whenever the transaction is under judicial investigation.
In prosecution for kidnapping in second degree, a revolver found in glove compartment of defendant's automobile by police officer at time defendant was arrested, and at time defendant and his companions were still holding complaining witness was properly admitted as an "exhibit".
Refusal to give requested instructions was not error, where the instructions given fairly covered the same ground.
1. Under the statute G.S.1935, 21-450, the crime of kidnapping in the second degree is complete when without lawful authority a person is forcibly seized with intent to secretly confine him in this state against his will.
2. A man is presumed to intend to do that which he in fact does do, and he is presumed to intend the natural and probable consequences of his own voluntary act or acts.
3. Statements made by a defendant in a criminal case exculpatory in character, which relate to subordinate facts, not directly involving the guilt of defendant, are competent evidence against him as admissions.
4. Generally physical objects which constitute a portion of a transaction or which serve to unfold or explain it may be exhibited in evidence whenever the transaction is under judicial investigation.
5. It is not error for a trial court to refuse to give requested instructions where the instructions given fairly cover the same ground
Appeal from District Court, Shawnee County, Division No. 1; George A. Kline, Judge.
Ed Myers was convicted of kidnapping in the second degree, and he appeals.
Hall Smith and Walter T. Chaney, both of Topeka, for appellant.
Jay S. Parker, Atty. Gen., and Ward Martin, Co. Atty., of Topeka, for appellee.
The defendant was convicted of kidnapping in the second degree and appeals.
Our statute G.S.1935, 21-450 under which defendant was charged, so far as pertinent, provides: "If any person shall willfully and without lawful authority, forcibly seize, confine, inveigle, decoy or kidnap any person, with intent to cause such person *** to be secretly confined within the same [the state] against his will, *** he shall, upon conviction, be deemed guilty of kidnaping in the second degree and be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding thirty (30) years. ***"
There is little dispute as to the facts. The complaining witness Jess Cole, who seems to have been engaged in the bootlegging business, got out of jail on the afternoon of July 26, 1940. At about 6 o'clock in the evening he appeared at a certain garage on West Sixth street in Topeka and later used the telephone to make a call to one Tork, another bootlegger. Cole then waited out in front of the garage for an answer to the telephone call. During this interval the defendant Ed Myers appeared. The two men had some conversation and defendant accused Cole of stealing whiskey out of Myers' automobile.
There seems to have been quite an altercation and defendant demanded that Cole go with him to see a certain woman who was said to have been robbed of some whiskey by two men at the point of a gun. The idea advanced by defendant was that he wanted to see if this woman could identify Cole as one of the men who had taken the whiskey. Cole testified he told Myers he could not go with him right then, that he had to attend to some business but that he would meet him in thirty minutes.
About that time Cole got his telephone call and when he came out of the garage another man named Sassman appeared. The defendant and Sassman grabbed Cole and attempted to put him into an automobile standing at the curb. The men wrestled around for several minutes; Cole's shirt was torn and he shouted for help. Several people standing nearby and in adjacent buildings testified about the fight. There was testimony that Cole shouted, "Boys, this man is highjacking me." And, "Help, help, they are highjacking me."
After defendant and Sassman had been unable to get Cole into the automobile, another man, one Yocum, came across the street and helped defendant and Sassman put Cole into the automobile. The three men succeeded in pushing Cole into the car and immediately drove away. Cole testified Sassman drove the car; that defendant and Yocum held him in the back seat; that the back cushion had slipped forward during the scuffle and that he was thrust down behind the cushion and the two men sat one on each side of him. Cole further testified:
The car containing Cole went west on Sixth street and later seems to have turned south. When it had reached the ten hundred block on Garfield avenue, it was seen by a police car which turned around and caught up with the car carrying Cole and the other men. It appears some of the people who had seen the affair in front of the garage had notified the police and that the police cruiser car had received a radio call giving the license number of the car in which the men were riding and instructing that it be picked up. The testimony showed that it was somewhat after 7 o'clock when the police made the arrest.
The men were all taken to the police station. After reaching the station one of the policemen found a .38 caliber revolver in the glove compartment of the car used by defendant and his associates. Cole testified that at the time the police car overhauled them, he saw defendant take the revolver and throw it on the front seat of the car and that he thought Sassman picked it up and put it in the glove compartment.
Detective Miler testified that when Cole got out of the car at the time the police made the arrest, he had a cut in his left eye, was beaten and his shirt was torn.
After the arrest the defendant made a statement to the officers which was taken down by a stenographer and transcribed. This statement was in the form of questions and answers. The abstract sets out part of this statement as follows:
The counter abstract gives another portion of this statement as follows:
At the close of the evidence on the part of the state, defendant moved to be discharged for the reason the state failed to prove the crime charged in the information had been committed, and the evidence was not sufficient to establish the fact the defendant had committed the crime as charged. The motions were overruled and the ruling of the court is assigned as error.
From the evidence as outlined above it was clearly established that the defendant, with the aid of confederates, without lawful authority forcibly seized the complaining witness Cole; that by force and violence Cole was pushed or thrown into the automobile; that thereupon the defendant and his two confederates entered the car and immediately drove away; that Cole...
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Cox v. State
...of kidnapping in the second degree under G.S. 1935, 21-450, now K.S.A. 21-450, were succinctly stated by this court in State v. Myers, 154 Kan. 648, 121 P.2d 286, where it was held: 'Under the statute G.S. 1935, 21-450, the crime of kidnapping in the second degree is complete when without l......
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...21-450, kidnaping in the second degree, have been before this court. State v. Lammon, 153 Kan. 822, 113 P.2d 1052; and State v. Myers, 154 Kan. 648, 121 P.2d 286. The defendants specified as error the giving of certain instructions by the trial court to the jury relating to kidnaping in the......
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State v. Robinson, 40742
...the two has long been recognized in this jurisdiction. State v. Campbell, 73 Kan. 688, 85 P. 784, 9 L.R.A.,N.S., 533; State v. Myers, 154 Kan. 648, 121 P.2d 286; State v. Turner, 82 Kan. 787, 109 P. 654, 32 L.R.A.,N.S., 772; State v. Aguirre, 167 Kan. 266, 206 P.2d 118; State v. Adams, 85 K......
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State v. Ponds, 47856
...(State v. Little, 201 Kan. 101, 439 P.2d 383, Syl. 4.) See also, State v. Robinson, 203 Kan. 304, 454 P.2d 527; State v. Myers, 154 Kan. 648, 121 P.2d 286. In State v. Robinson, supra, 203 Kan. at 311, 454 P.2d 527, at 533, we recognized the general rule that admissibility of physical evide......