U.S. v. Fay

• Citation: 668 F.2d 375
• Decision Date: 30 December 1981
• Docket Number: No. 81-1605,81-1605
• Parties: 9 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1200 UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Leighton Lee FAY, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 375

668 F.2d 375

9 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1200

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Leighton Lee FAY, Appellant.

No. 81-1605.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Nov. 12, 1981.

Decided Dec. 30, 1981.

Stanley E. Whiting, argued, Day, Grossenburg & Whiting, Winner, S.D., for appellant.

Terry L. Pechota, U. S. Atty., Sioux Falls, S. D., Dawn Bowen, argued, Asst. U. S. Atty., Pierre, S. D., for appellee.

Before HENLEY and ARNOLD, Circuit Judges, and HARRIS, Senior District Judge. ^*

HENLEY, Circuit Judge.

Defendant appeals his conviction of four counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and one count of assault by striking, beating, or wounding. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

The charges against defendant arose out of what was apparently a New Year's Day free-for-all involving defendant, an Indian male, and a number of Indian women. On December 31, 1980 defendant drove from Oglala, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, to a New Year's Eve celebration at a bowling alley in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, on the Cheyenne-Eagle Butte Indian Reservation. He was accompanied by his girlfriend Agnes Randall, her aunt Verna Flying Hawk, and her cousin Fay Charging Thunder. They were later joined at the bowling alley by Leah Black Moon. At some point during the festivities, Leah became engaged in an altercation with Sylvia High Bear. One of Sylvia's companions, Anita Traversie, was knocked from her stool, and it appears that Fay, Agnes, and possibly Verna also became involved. Both groups were asked to leave sometime after midnight.

The record reveals as many different accounts of the subsequent events as there were witnesses. It appears, however, that defendant went with Agnes, Fay, Verna, and Leah to Leah's home, and that later in the morning, Sylvia's sister Freda Fish came to Leah's house accompanied by Sylvia's daughter Pauline High Bear, and Anita. It is not clear how the women got inside the house, but once they were inside several fights ensued involving the women, but allegedly not the defendant who testified that he first went outside and then went upstairs "to avoid hassling with them." After it became quiet, defendant started to go downstairs, but was said to have been met on the landing by Freda, Pauline, and Anita. Defendant testified that Freda had a knife in her hand and that he struggled with the three women, during which time he grabbed Freda's hand holding the knife and lashed out. Anita, Freda, and Pauline all suffered serious stab wounds. Defendant then took the knife and went back upstairs where he stated that he accidently stabbed Verna as he was forcibly entering the bathroom. Returning downstairs, he allegedly found Leah kneeling on the floor near the door to the kitchen and told Agnes to "call the cops." The police, who had already been notified, arrived shortly thereafter and found defendant in an upstairs bedroom. Leah was found dead in or near the kitchen.

Defendant was charged with second degree murder for the death of Leah, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153 and 113(c), and four counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153 and 113(f). On May 15, 1981, following a jury trial, defendant was acquitted of the murder charge, but was found guilty of four counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and one count of assault by striking, beating, or wounding. He was sentenced to forty-five years and six months.

Defendant appeals on the following grounds: (1) the trial court erred in excluding evidence of Pauline's and Anita's characters, (2) the trial court erred in allowing impeachment of defendant by use of prior convictions, (3) the indictment charged multiplicitous counts, (4) the trial court erred in excluding evidence of Anita's frame of mind, (5) the trial court erred in refusing defendant's request for an intoxication instruction, (6) the trial judge made prejudicial remarks in front of the jury, and (7) the sentence imposed was based on improper considerations.

We are most troubled by the trial court's refusal to instruct the jury on intoxication as a defense to assault with a deadly weapon which includes the element of specific intent to do bodily harm. Because the charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and assault by striking, beating, or wounding do not require more than general intent, the trial court's failure to give an intoxication instruction does not affect defendant's convictions on these counts.

A criminal defendant is entitled to an instruction on a theory of defense "if he makes a timely request for such an instruction, if the request is supported by evidence and if it sets out a correct declaration of law." United States v. Manning, 618 F.2d 45, 47-48 (8th Cir. 1980), citing United States v. Brake, 596 F.2d 337, 339 (8th Cir. 1979). The pertinent part of defendant's proposed instruction reads as follows:

(W)henever the existence of any particular purpose, motive or intent is a necessary element to constitute the crime charged, the jury may take into consideration the fact, if it is a fact, that the accused was intoxicated at the time of the alleged offense in determining the purpose, motive, or intent with which he committed the act, if he did commit it.

The district court refused to give an intoxication instruction on the ground that there was insufficient evidence to support this theory of defense. We note, however, that there was testimony that defendant and his companions made several stops during the afternoon and evening of New Year's Eve to purchase beer and liquor, and that defendant had "passed out" on the couch at Leah's before Freda and her companions arrived. The evidence further suggests that defendant had been drinking from time to time and perhaps almost continuously during the twenty-four hour period preceding the outbreak of violence at Leah's house. Although defendant did not testify that he was intoxicated, we think the evidence would support a finding that he was in fact intoxicated and that as a result there was a reasonable doubt that he lacked the specific intent to do bodily harm. In view of the policy that "trial judges should be liberal in permitting the defendant's theory of defense to be explained to the jury," United States v. Brown, 540 F.2d 364, 381 (8th Cir. 1976), we conclude that it was error for the trial court to deny defendant's timely request for an intoxication instruction. Furthermore, because we find that the trier of fact could reasonably have been influenced by the trial court's failure to give such an instruction, we must reverse defendant's convictions on the counts of assault with a deadly weapon and remand for new trial.

Another of defendant's contentions concerns his attempt to introduce character evidence with respect to Anita, Pauline, and Freda in support of a self-defense theory. Specifically, defendant sought to introduce evidence of the reputations of all three women for violence, and also evidence of a prior assault conviction against Anita. The character evidence was admitted against Freda. The district court, however, sustained the government's objection to the introduction of character evidence against Pauline and Anita on the ground that there was insufficient evidence to support a theory of self-defense regarding these two women. The government submits that this ruling is further supported by defendant's own assertions that he did not remember stabbing anyone, but, if he did, he did so...