State v. Patterson

• Decision Date: 13 November 1893
• Citation: 34 P. 784,52 Kan. 335
• Parties: THE STATE OF KANSAS v. A. W. PATTERSON
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

34 P. 784

52 Kan. 335

THE STATE OF KANSAS v. A. W. PATTERSON

Supreme Court of Kansas

November 13, 1893

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Appeal from Cowley District Caurt.

ON the 18th day of March, 1893, George W. Scott, county attorney of Cowley county, filed an information in the clerk's office of the district court of that county, in words and figures as follows (omitting caption, verification, and indorsements):

"In the name, by the authority, for and on behalf of the state of Kansas, I, George W. Scott, county attorney of Cowley county Kansas, come now here and give the court to understand, know and be informed, that on the 7th day of January, 1892, in Cowley county and the state of Kansas, one A. W. Patterson and William T. Standeford did then and there, unlawfully, feloniously, willfully, deliberately, premeditatedly, and with their malice aforethought, make an assault upon one Peter Hinton, then and there being, and with a certain pistol, commonly called a revolver, then and there charged with gunpowder and leaden bullets, which said pistol he, the said A. W. Patterson and William T. Standeford, then and there had and held, and then and there did feloniously, willfully, deliberately, premeditatedly, and of their malice aforethought, discharge and shoot off, to, against and upon him, the said Peter Hinton; and that he, the said A. W. Patterson and William T. Standeford, with a certain leaden bullet aforesaid, out of the pistol aforesaid, by force of the gunpowder aforesaid, by the said A. W. Patterson and William T. Standeford discharged and shot off as aforesaid, then and there, feloniously, willfully, deliberately, premeditatedly, and with their malice aforethought, with intent, him, the said Peter Hinton, in the manner aforesaid, to kill and murder, did strike, penetrate and wound him, the said Peter Hinton, upon and in the breast and body, thereby giving to him, the said Peter Hinton, one mortal wound, of which said mortal wound the said Peter Hinton then and there, on the 7th day of January, 1892, at the county of Cowley aforesaid, and within the jurisdiction of this court, instantly died, contrary to the form of the statutes of the state of Kansas in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the state of Kansas. That the said A. W. Patterson and William T. Standeford, in manner and form aforesaid, did feloniously, willfully, deliberately, and premeditatedly, and of their malice aforethought, the said Peter Hinton kill and murder.

GEORGE W. SCOTT, County Attorney."

On April 18, 1893, the defendant filed a motion to quash the information, upon the following grounds:

"1. The facts stated therein do not constitute a public offense.

"2. The said information is not direct and certain as regards the offense and parties attempted to be charged.

"3. The offense or offenses attempted to be charged therein is not clearly set forth, in plain and concise language, and without repetition.

"4. The offense attempted to be charged therein is not stated with such degree of certainty that the court may pronounce a judgment thereon upon conviction, according to the right of the case.

"5. There are two offenses attempted to be charged therein."

This motion was overruled by the court on the 22d day of April, 1893. It appears from an affidavit on file that the clerk of the district court delivered for the defendant to D. L. Weir, one of his attorneys, a certified copy of the information on the 6th day of April, 1893. On the said 22d day of April, the defendant was duly arraigned, and, after hearing the information read, pleaded not guilty. Upon motion, a separate trial was granted to each of the defendants, and on the 22d day of April, 1893, the trial of A. W. Patterson, the defendant, commenced. The state appeared by George W. Scott, county attorney, and W. P. Hackney and J. C. Pollock. The defendant was present in person and by his attorneys, Messrs. Troup & Brown, and Weir & Swartz, and also by Ben. S. Henderson, Esq.

Upon the trial of this case, there was evidence introduced on the part of the state showing, among other things, that on the morning of the 6th of January, 1892, Peter Hinton, the deceased, was at the Fifth Avenue hotel, in that city, and that in the afternoon of that day he had upon his person 600 or more dollars; that A. W. Patterson was, at that time, proprietor of the Gladstone hotel, one of the principal hotels in Arkansas City, and that in the basement of the hotel there was a billiard room, a gambling room, and a "joint" where intoxicating liquors were unlawfully sold. In the operation of the gambling room, Ed. Kinney was the partner of Patterson; John Boucher had charge of the joint; Harry Holland was the barkeeper in the joint, and Charles Taylor was the dealer in the gambling room; William T. Standeford, alias "Missouri Bill," a brother-in-law of John Boucher, was around the joint and gambling room very much. In the afternoon of the 6th of January, 1892, John Boucher and William T. Standeford went, with another person, to the Fifth Avenue hotel, and soon after approached Peter Hinton, and invited him to take a drink with them. This he declined. They then invited him to go away from there with them. This he also declined. They then went away, but soon after returned and made inquiry for Hinton, but he was gone. Later, Hinton visited the gambling room under the Gladstone hotel, and after gambling awhile won $ 17. He exhibited in the gambling room a large roll of money. At that time there were present, besides Hinton, the defendant, A. W. Patterson, John Boucher, William T. Standeford, Ed. Kinney, Harry Holland, and others. About 8 o'clock P. M., Hinton went to the theater with Ed. Kinney, and stayed there until about half past 10 o'clock P. M., when he and Kinney and John Harris left the theater and returned to the hotel, and went into the gambling room again, and engaged in gambling, at which he lost about $ 15. It was then about 12 o'clock, midnight, and all the parties left the gambling room and went into the joint adjoining. John Harris, who was in the joint, testified as follows:

"Ques. Who all was in that room at that time? Ans. My best recollection is, A. W. Patterson, Missouri Bill [Standeford], Harry Holland, Kinney, Kid Anderson, myself, and a kid--I don't know who he was.

"Q. What was that room used for at that time? A. For a joint.

"Q. What was Hinton doing in that room at that time? A. Drinking; the same as the rest of them.

"Q. What was the reason you left that room that night when you did? A. Because I thought there was going to be trouble--a fight.

"Q. You thought there was going to be trouble? A. Yes, sir.

"Q. I wish you would describe to the jury what took place there in that room that night that suggested to you that there was going to be trouble. A. Slapping each other's hats off and calling each other bad names.

"Q. Did they appear to be drunk--the crowd, or any of them? A. Yes, sir; some of them.

"Q. Who of the crowd appeared to be drunk? A. Why, I can't say they were drunk; they were drinking.

"Q. Boozy then? who of the crowd was boozy? A. All of them.

"Q. All the crowd? A. Yes, sir.

"Q. Who went away with you when you thought there was going to be a row? A. Ed. Anderson.

"Q. Who did you leave in the room there when you and he went away? A. Patterson, Missouri Bill [Standeford], Harry Holland, Peter Hinton, Ed. Kinney, and some kid."

Jerry Ward, merchant police, passed the joint in the basement of the Gladstone hotel about midnight on the 6th of January, and he testified as follows:

"Ans. I heard them fighting down there--like as if quarreling--some of them.

"Ques. It did attract your attention? A. Yes, sir.

"Q. What did you do? A. I listened awhile, and then walked on; and they seemed to have quieted down.

"Q. Was it loud and boisterous? A. Yes, sir.

"Q. What kind of noise was it? A. It sounded as though--I could hear John Boucher's voice as though he was trying to get at somebody to fight; quarreling with somebody.

"Q. Did you know John Boucher at that time? A. Yes, sir.

"Q. Knew his voice? A. Yes, sir."

A. Abbott, a resident of Arkansas City, testified that,

"About midnight of January 6, he was on the sidewalk in front of the Gladstone hotel. He heard loud swearing in the basement of the hotel, and went to the door of the joint."

"Ques. What room was the noise being made in at that time? Ans. In the joint.

"Q. Now what did you hear while standing there? A. Well, there was cussing and swearing, and when I stepped to the door somebody says, 'The son of a bitch has cut me,' and I stepped to the door and then took hold of the knob and found the door was fast.

"Q. What else did you hear? A. Then somebody else says, 'Why don't you kill the son of a bitch?' or 'Go and kill the son of a bitch,' or something like that; I would not swear positive what it was."

Ed. Kinney testified as to the occurrences in the joint as follows:

"Ques. You may state what you saw that attracted your attention. Ans. Well, sir, I was out in the hotel. I heard some loud talking and quarreling. I think I was in the billiard room--had walked in there--and I went back into the joint room; and Hinton stood to the right of the door, Boucher stood in front of him, and Hinton had his back to the wall and Boucher stood in front of him and insisted on licking Hinton, and Hinton didn't want to fight--said he did n't want to fight--and Boucher was going to lick him anyway, and did commence punching him; and they scuffled around there a little bit, and Hinton struck at Boucher. I think he had a knife in his hand, but I can't say positive that I saw the knife. Boucher jumped back, and run around behind the table and commenced...