Steely v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 23 February 1909
• Parties: STEELY v. COMMONWEALTH.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

116 S.W. 714

132 Ky. 213

STEELY v. COMMONWEALTH.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

February 23, 1909

Appeal from Circuit Court, Whitley County.

"To be officially reported."

Sarah Steely was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, and appeals. Affirmed.

See also, 112 S.W. 655.

R. S Rose, for appellant.

Jas Breathitt, Atty. Gen., and Tom B. McGregor, Asst. Atty. Gen for the Commonwealth.

SETTLE C.J.

Appellant, Sarah Steely, was jointly indicted in the Whitley circuit court with her son, Granville Steely, a boy 15 years of age, for the murder of Martin B. Synder. The homicide occurred in appellant's house, in the city of Williamsburg. The wounds of which Snyder died were inflicted by appellant's son with a knife, but both mother and son were indicted as principals. Appellant was accorded a separate trial, convicted of voluntary manslaughter, and her punishment fixed at confinement in the penitentiary five years. She appealed from the judgment of conviction, and obtained in this court a reversal thereof. Steely v. Commonwealth, 112 S.W. 655, 33 Ky. Law Rep. 1032. The second trial in the circuit court resulted in a verdict finding appellant guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and fixing her punishment at confinement in the penitentiary for two years. Judgment was entered in conformity to the verdict, and appellant, having been refused a new trial, has again appealed.

As the opinion on the former appeal contains a statement of the facts, it will be unnecessary to elaborately repeat them here. We find, however, that the evidence on the last trial while not substantially differing from that of the first, perhaps more sharply brought out some of the circumstances connected with the homicide relied on by the prosecution as establishing appellant's guilty participation therein as an aider and abettor. It is sufficient to say that the evidence of the commonwealth tended to prove that appellant, whose character was shown to be not of the best, suffered deceased and several other men to bring to her home, on the night of the homicide, a keg of beer, of which all who were present drank. Shortly after the appearance of the beer deceased and others of the party present, including appellant's son, Granville Steely, engaged in a game of "craps" or dice upon the floor of the middle room of appellant's house. The persons engaged in the game sat upon the floor, light being furnished by a lamp standing on the floor. Others not engaged with the dice were drinking beer or singing, one playing a banjo and several, including appellant, were swearing and blackguarding. In the midst of the turmoil appellant became angry with one McFarland, and deceased threatened to kill the former, and finally ordered all the visitors present to leave the house. At that juncture deceased, or some other member of the party, raised the lamp from the floor, and in doing so dropped the chimney and extinguished the light. According to some of the witnesses, when appellant ordered the persons present to leave the house, she got an axe with which she attempted to strike deceased upon the head, but he got hold of the axe, set the lamp on the table, struck a match and attempted to light it, failing in which, he said the lamp was his, and if he had to leave, he would take it with him. Appellant also claimed the lamp, and deceased started to the door with the lamp in one hand and holding to the axe with the other, to keep appellant from striking him with it. Upon reaching the door deceased struck her on the shoulder with the lamp, but without knocking her down. When hit with the lamp appellant jerked the axe from deceased, and attempted to strike him with it, but did not succeed. After deceased passed out of the door appellant threw a spittoon at him, and then her son, at her command, ran upon deceased and stabbed him twice with a dirk, inflicting wounds from which he died the next day. Appellant was seen that night with the dirk with which deceased was stabbed shortly before the cutting occurred, and her son testified that he asked her for the dirk about the time the difficulty began, and she took it from her stocking...