Story v. United States, 4457.
| Decision Date | 06 December 1926 |
| Docket Number | No. 4457.,4457. |
| Citation | 16 F.2d 342 |
| Parties | STORY v. UNITED STATES. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
J. A. O'Shea, of Washington, D. C., for appellant.
Peyton Gordon and J. J. O'Leary, both of Washington, D. C., for the United States.
Before MARTIN, Chief Justice, ROBB, Associate Justice, and BARBER, Judge of the United States Court of Customs Appeals.
Appellant and James O'Connor were convicted in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia under the ninth count of an indictment charging them with involuntary manslaughter and were sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. The indictment charged that O'Connor was operating and driving an automobile, and that Story and O'Connor "feloniously, violently, wantonly, recklessly, and negligently did strike, hit, and beat him, the said Charles F. Jarvis the deceased, with the said automobile," etc.
The evidence for the government, stated in narrative form, is substantially as follows:
Jarvis, prior to the occurrence, was possessed of a gold watch and a small sum of money. Early in the morning of November 16, 1924, he was in an obviously intoxicated condition, when he was observed by O'Connor and Story, who also had been drinking and were riding around in Story's automobile, with Story at the wheel. The car was stopped, and O'Connor invited Jarvis to take a ride. Jarvis accepted the invitation, and, according to a statement signed by O'Connor shortly after the occurrence and which Story in a similar statement characterized as true with two exceptions, O'Connor "helped the drunken man into the front seat, where Story was at the wheel." After proceeding a short distance, Story stopped the car and directed O'Connor to put Jarvis on the back seat.
According to the signed statement of Story, which he testified was true, the three men took several drinks of liquor and finally drove out to Kane's Lane and stopped. There the three men got out of the car, and Jarvis was so drunk he fell in a ditch. Story pulled him up, and Jarvis then started to walk up the lane, in the direction the car was headed. Story said to O'Connor, "Let's go," whereupon O'Connor asked permission to drive, and Story, according to his statement, asked if he had a permit. O'Connor said he had, so Story allowed him to drive. Jarvis then was about 50 yards up the road, in front of the car. O'Connor was at the wheel, with Story sitting beside him. Just as they got up to Jarvis, he staggered in front of the car and was run over. "The car was going about 20 or 25 miles an hour at the time that the man was hit." While Story and O'Connor were attempting to turn the car around, police officers arrived, and asked each of them "what they run over that man for, and they both said, `What man?'" No money was found on the body of Jarvis, and his watch was found in the overcoat pocket of O'Connor.
In O'Connor's signed statement he admitted taking the watch, and charged Story with taking the money. Story, both in his statement and testimony, disclaimed knowledge of the taking of the watch, and denied taking the money. There also was evidence to the effect that Kane's Lane is very narrow at this point, and that it would be necessary for a pedestrian to step outside the road to avoid being run down.
Both O'Connor and Story took the stand. Story testified that, just prior to seeing Jarvis, he and O'Connor purchased half a pint of liquor "and started riding out H street, and came to First and H street Northeast; on the right corner there was a man staggering around, and he fell just as we got past him, and I stopped the car right quick, and O'Connor he run and pulled him up and holloed back to me that the man was drunk. * * *" After being taken into the car, Jarvis
Story had never been in this lane. The three men got out of the car, and Story walked a little to one side, and, when he returned, he heard Jarvis say to O'Connor, "Oh, you done me wrong." Thereupon "O'Connor turned him loose, and he sat down on the bank, on the left-hand side of the car, and the grass was wet down there." Story pulled Jarvis up, and ...
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