State v. Smith

• Citation: 37 P. 491,9 Wash. 341
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Washington
• Decision Date: 07 July 1894
• Parties: STATE v. SMITH.

37 P. 491

9 Wash. 341

STATE v. SMITH.

Supreme Court of Washington

July 7, 1894

Appeal from superior court, Spokane county; James Z. Moore, Judge.

H. D Smith was convicted of murder in the first degree, and appeals. Affirmed.

D. W Henley, for appellant.

S. G Allen, for the State.

ANDERS J.

The appellant was tried upon an information charging him with the crime of murder in the first degree in the killing of John Wyant, in Spokane county, on June 9, 1892, by shooting him with a gun and cutting him with a knife. The jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged, upon which verdict, after overruling motions in arrest of judgment and for a new trial, the court adjudged him guilty, and sentenced him to be hanged. To reverse this judgment and sentence, the defendant prosecutes this appeal.

The first error relied upon as a ground for reversal of the judgment is the overruling of the defendant's demurrer to the information. This objection is not tenable. The information is substantially in accordance with the precedent of an indictment for murder formulated and recommended by our territorial supreme court in the case of Leonard v Territory, 2 Wash. T. 381, 7 P. 872, and is sufficient both in form and substance. No material allegation is omitted and no superfluous averments are contained therein, and the facts constituting the crime charged are set forth in plain and concise language, in accordance with the requirements of the Code.

Nor did the court, in our opinion, commit error in overruling the motion in arrest of judgment. Nothing appears in the record showing the absence of the conditions which must exist in order to warrant the prosecution of a public offense by information, rather than by indictment. On the contrary, we think it sufficiently appears that the prosecuting attorney was fully justified in the case in filing the information against the defendant upon which he was tried.

It is contended by the learned counsel for the defendant that the evidence in this case is entirely insufficient to sustain the verdict, and that the court therefore erred in denying the defendant's motion for a peremptory instruction in his favor, and also in overruling his motion for a new trial based upon the insufficiency of the evidence; and it is especially urged in the brief of appellant that the death of John Wyant is not shown by the testimony adduced at the trial. But a careful consideration of the evidence leads us to a different conclusion. The evidence discloses that Wyant was an unmarried man, and for some years prior to June 9, 1892, had resided alone upon his farm, about 5 miles southwest of the village of Spangle, in Spokane county, and some 18 or 20 miles from the city of Spokane. He was supposed to have considerable means, and, owing to his peculiar custom of always converting his money into coin, it was generally rumored and believed among his acquaintances that he was hoarding his money by burying it. He was seen at work in one of his fields on the afternoon of the day above mentioned, but was never seen or heard of alive afterwards. On the evening of that day, at half past 10 o'clock, his barn, which was situated some distance from his house, was, by Mrs. Morris, discovered to be on fire. She aroused her husband, and he and some of his neighbors went to Wyant's premises. Soon after they arrived at the burning building, they discovered what they supposed to be the form of a human being in the midst of the flames, lying in that portion of the barn where hay was usually kept. Other neighbors were called, and, after satisfying themselves that what they had before believed to be a human body was in fact such, they proceeded to examine the premises. Upon entering the house, they found the dining table with dishes upon it, which had been used, but were unwashed; a chair near it, and a diary, such as Wyant always kept, lying open upon the table, containing a brief account of what he did on the 9th day of June; and eggshells upon the hearth of the stove. Nothing in the house appeared to have been molested, and, judging from appearances, Wyant had eaten his supper, and at once left the room. Further investigation developed the fact that his riding horse was missing from the pasture where he was kept and where the other horses were found. In the morning, the fresh tracks of the missing horse were traced past the house of Mr. Rohweder to the end of the lane. From there, instead of following the usually traveled road to Spokane, which passes through Spangle, the tracks indicated that the horse took a short cut, which was rough, and but little traveled, and which was known to the appellant. On the evening of June 10th, this horse was found on the usually traveled road between Spokane and Spangle, about seven miles south of Spokane, and was going towards home. He was also seen and recognized at Spangle, and appeared to have been ridden hard, having dried sweat and saddle marks upon him. The tracks of this horse were easily identified and followed, on account of the fact that there was a peculiarly shaped notch in one of his hoofs. The coroner, having been sent for, went to the Wyant farm the morning after the fire, accompanied by Dr. Hoxie, and held an inquest on the body, which was still lying untouched in the ruins of the barn. It was found that the legs of the deceased to the knees and the arms to the elbows had been entirely consumed by the fire, and the remaining portion of the body was greatly charred and blackened, and covered with a coating of ashes, which seems, in a measure, to have preserved it from further consumption. The general outlines of the face had not been destroyed, and, owing to the fact that a cloth around the neck had been saturated with blood, it had not burned, and it was discovered that the throat had been cut, as the witnesses expressed it, from ear to ear. In the stomach undigested eggs were found, and it was shown that Wyant was in the constant habit of eating eggs. A bullet had passed through the head from left to right, just above the ears, and another had apparently pierced the abdomen. It was thus made apparent that a heinous crime had been committed. Somebody had evidently been killed by violence inflicted by another. Who was it? Several ...