State v. Smith
| Decision Date | 20 May 1942 |
| Docket Number | 218. |
| Citation | 20 S.E.2d 313,221 N.C. 278 |
| Parties | STATE v. SMITH. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
By proper indictment, the defendant was charged with the murder of Alfonzo Price, and thereupon at the January Criminal Term 1942, of the Superior Court of Wayne County was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death.
The proceedings on the trial pertinent to this appeal may be summarized as follows:
Mrs Gladys Price, widow of Alfonzo Price, testified that she lived about five miles from Goldsboro on the lands of Mrs Thomas O'Berry, and had been living there with her husband and children for five years. The home is located on the east side of the Dudley Road, facing west.
She was at home on the night of November 24, 1941, with her husband who was then forty-six years old.
Witness had known Walter Smith for about four years. He came to the home on November 24 about 1:30 o'clock, carrying a shotgun, and stated that he was going rabbit hunting. Witness and a Mr. Holland were working on a brooder house. Smith called to Mr. Holland and said, He came to the brooder house and sat down and kept talking about rabbit hunting, saying he liked rabbit and was going to kill him a rabbit.
Mr. Holland asked Smith if his gun was loaded, and Smith said, "Yes, his damn gun stayed loaded." He left after awhile, going down the road and entering his house.
Witness did not see him anymore until he came to the Price house on the night of the homicide. At that time, witness was sitting with her husband near the fireplace, putting Ammonia-mercury on his sore hand. Smith hailed from the outside, and witness recognized his voice. Her little girl went to the door and Smith asked if her father was at home, and she told him "Yes." When the father had been told that Smith wanted to see him, he sent the little girl back and asked Smith to come in, which Smith declined to do, saying that he did not have time--just wanted to speak to Price.
Witness' husband then walked out into the yard, when Smith began to curse him and tell him that he had come to kill him; that he had "took every damn thing off him that he ever intended to take off him."
Witness immediately got up to go to the porch where they were, and she was in a step of the porch when the gun fired. When she came into view, her husband was standing at the corner of the porch, and Smith was standing about two steps off.
When Smith told her husband he was going to kill him, Price said to him, "Mr. Smith, please don't kill me." He said, "Please don't shoot me." Smith replied that he had come to kill him and that he wasn't going to take anything else off him. I stepped out on the porch and asked what was the trouble, and her husband told witness, "He shot my leg off." Smith was standing right where he shot him. He then backed off about three steps, blew the powder out of his gun and reloaded it.
Price was standing with his back toward Smith, holding his hands up, saying nothing. Witness went back into the house to get a lamp and when she returned, Smith was behind the Oak tree. He stepped out from behind the tree, turned his gun upon witness, and told her not to come out, that it was nothing concerning her. Her husband was hollering and went on hollering. Smith turned his gun upon Price and told him not to holler again, that he would shoot his damn brains out. Price staggered from the porch to the tree, hopped or staggered. Witness could not tell how, since his leg was "shot clean off." The tree was nine or ten feet from the porch. Witness carried the lamp and set it down, and by the time she got it on the ground, her husband was leaning against the tree, standing on one leg, holding his hands up.
Her husband was beginning to fall, and fell over the tree roots. She reached to assist him, but Mr. Smith walked around the tree, threw the gun on her and told her not to put her hands on him. She told Smith not to tell her what to do, that she was doing everything she could for her husband, and asked him to please go home. He stood there a few moments, turned around and went down the road towards home.
Witness got something to cord the leg with and while doing so, found that it was shot off about the knee, about four or five inches below the knee.
Witness stated that it looked like a bucket full of blood had been taken and poured around the tree where her husband was shot, and that he did not bleed any after he had fallen down. The blood extended from one-fourth to one-third around the tree where he staggered. Smith stayed about five minutes after he fired the gun. He was smoking a pipe at the time he shot him, and continued to smoke when he drew the gun on him the last time.
Smith appeared like he always had. He walked straight on down towards home, holding his gun to his side. He walked normally.
Witness stated that her four youngest children, herself and her husband were at home when Smith first came, but that after the father was shot, all four of the children left home, running back through the house to the next house, where the oldest daughter lived. She called to the children to come back and help as she tried to cord the leg. The oldest daughter came and the children went after Mr. Jones and Mr. Holland to tell them to come at once. Several of the neighbors came in a short while. By the time Holland got there, they had picked up Price and put him on the front porch, and when Mr. Holland came, they put him in the back seat of the car and carried him to the hospital at Goldsboro.
Previous to this time, Price was in good health; he was overseer at the O'Berry farm, and rented directly from Mr. O'Berry.
Witness knew of no dispute between Mr. Smith and her husband, except that one day Smith came by and told Price that he wanted help to dig potatoes--a mule and wagon and a man. Price told him he was sorry but he did not have anybody but himself, Bernice Jones and witness. He had to send barley to town by his son, and told Smith that as soon as the boy came back with the wagon, he would have the boy help to dig the potatoes. After Price got the barley off, Smith turned and said, "Well, I have done told you," and left.
After Smith left, Price told Bernice and his wife to go and help him, and they went where Mr. Smith was digging potatoes, and he said that he had help enough, such as witness was. Price then went across the field to help him. Mr. Smith told witness that he was not going to have anything else to do with her husband; that he had never been to him lately for accommodation but that he snapped him up.
Her husband's wound was examined by a doctor at the hospital, and the doctor pronounced him dead.
Witness then described the home and location of windows, porch and tree in the yard, and illustrated the location of various objects by the use of a diagram, to which she referred, and testified as to the accuracy of this diagram.
The defendant made sundry objections to the use of the diagram and the various references which the witness made thereto. These objections were overruled, and defendant excepted.
Mrs. J. S. Holland, witness for the State, testified, in substance, that she had known both Smith and Price and lived in the same vicinity; that she was sent for and went to the home of Mr. Price on November 24, about 2 o'clock. On the way back in the afternoon, she stopped at the Smith house and saw Smith, who was sitting in the kitchen with his wife. Smith told witness it was a damn good thing she had come, because he was just about to wring the old woman's neck. After a little talk, Smith said, "I want you to look at the sun." He asked his wife what time it was, and she said it was 20 minutes past 4, and Smith said, "Well, in less than a year I will be electrocuted." Witness said, "Mr. Smith, you don't know what you are talking about," and he said, "Yes, I do." About 5 o'clock Smith came out and went to the barn for some corn to feed his hogs. He said, "I am going to feed these hogs the last damn time I ever intend to feed them." Witness saw Smith again the night of the homicide about 6 o'clock. He was with witness' husband on a car and conversed quite a bit. Witness thought he had had a drink. After he had shot Price, Smith came back and called Holland, witness' husband, and witness went to the door. Smith wanted Holland, and said, "I have shot Mr. Price and I want to see Mr. Holland." Said he had shot Price in the foot or leg, or somewhere, and added, "I should have shot him in the stomach or in the head; I should have shot him six months ago." Smith said, "I ought to have shot the black livered s. o. b. a long time ago." Smith wanted Holland to take him to town, but Holland declined, saying, "No, I am going to take Alfonzo, if you shot him, he needs help," and Mr. Smith said, "Well, I will walk."
Witness said that she went to get somebody to take Smith to town. When she got to the Price home, she saw blood at the tree, blood on the porch and doorsteps, blood everywhere he had bled, and where they had laid him on the porch, doorsteps and at the tree. Blood was around the roots of the tree on the side next to the house.
The last time she saw Smith at her home, she thought he was drinking a little.
J. S Holland, witness for the State, testified that on November 24, Smith came by Price's home, where witness was building a brooder, carrying a gun, stating that he liked rabbits and would like to have a young rabbit. Asked if his gun was loaded, he replied, "Yes, he never toted an unloaded gun." Witness said Smith looked like h...
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