Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-88-02737/USCOURTS-ca10-88-02737-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Terry Smith
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

. FILED 

Urnted Scates C.i,}urr of A 1 •• 1 . Pf*au 

-' enti~ Ci:~it 

APR 10 1990 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee, 

No. 88-2737 

v. 

TERRY SMITH, 

Defendant-Appellant. 

(D.C. CR No. 87-431-02) 

(District of New Mexico) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before MOORE, ANDERSON, and MCWILLIAMS. 

In count one of a two-count indictment, Terry Smith was 

charged with assaulting Kenneth Shirley with an intent to murder 

by use of a dangerous weapon, namely, a shotgun, in violation of 

18 U.S.C. §§ 1153 and 113(a). In count two, Lloyd Smith (Terry 

Smith's brother) was charged with assaulting Brenda Harrison with 

an intent to do bodily harm by use of a dangerous weapon, in 

violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153 and 113(c). Both offenses were 

alleged to have occurred on the same day at a Navajo Indian 

Reservation in the State of New Mexico. Terry Smith's trial was 

severed from the trial of his brother, Lloyd Smith. A jury 

convicted Terry Smith of a lesser included offense, i.e., assault 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall not 

be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, except 

for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of the case, 

res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 36.3. 

Appellate Case: 88-2737 Document: 01019971225 Date Filed: 04/10/1990 Page: 1 
with a deadly weapon with intent to do bodily harm, in violation 

of 18 U.S.C. § 113(c). He was sentenced to five years imprisonment. Smith appeals his conviction. We affirm. 

Terry Smith is an enrolled member of the Navajo Tribe, as was 

Kenneth Shirley, who was a Navajo police officer on the reservation. Without going into great detail, Terry Smith and several of 

his brothers, along with others, including Terry Smith's girlfriend, Victoria Scott, had gone to an early evening ball game and 

proceeded from there during the course of the evening to various 

other places, all drinking considerable quantities of beer 

throughout the night. At one juncture, so-called "warning shots'' 

were fired by Terry Smith and the police were called as a result. 

A high speed chase then ensued. Terry Smith apparently was the 

driver of the vehicle, and Lloyd Smith was seated on the passenger 

side in the front seat, and others were in the back seat. Eventually, the fleeing vehicle was stopped. Shirley was one of the 

officers giving chase. 

In this setting, someone got out of the fleeing vehicle and 

shot Officer Shirley in the face with shotgun pellets. Victoria 

Scott testified that Terry Smith was the individual who shot Officer Shirley. At trial, there was testimony from others, including some who were passengers in the vehicle, concerning the events 

of the evening. Although Terry Smith did not testify, his defense 

was that he did not shoot at Officer Shirley, but that it was his 

brother, Lloyd, who shot Shirley. 

On appeal, two points are raised: (1) the trial court erred 

in permitting witnesses to testify concerning the events of the 

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Appellate Case: 88-2737 Document: 01019971225 Date Filed: 04/10/1990 Page: 2 
• 

evening leading up to the shooting; and (2) the trial court erred 

in refusing to include instructions, and a form of verdict, on a 

still lesser included offense, i.e., assault by striking, beating 

or wounding, 18 u.s.c. § 113(d). 

Over objection, the district court permitted the government 

to call witnesses who testified as to the events of the evening 

leading up to the shooting of Officer Shirley. Counsel objected 

to this line of testimony on the ground that such tended to show 

that on the evening of the shooting Terry Smith committed other 

acts of criminality than the one with which he was charged. Such 

is true, as this line of testimony tended to show, inter alia, 

that Terry Smith was drunk; that on several occasions he 

physically assaulted his girlfriend, Victoria Scott; that he fired 

several "warning shots'' from a shotgun and rifle which he and his 

brothers had with them that evening; and that he "picked up'' two 

hitchhikers, using at least a degree of force. When objection was 

made, the district court listened to counsel and overruled the 

objection, believing that such was admissible under FED. R. EVID. 

§ 404(b). In this regard, it was the government's general position that the jury was entitled to know of the events which led up 

to the actual shooting and that such evidence lent credence to the 

government's charge that it was Terry Smith, not Lloyd Smith, who 

fired at Officer Shirley. We agree with the district court's 

handling of this matter. 

It would seem unreasonable that the jury would only know, for 

example, about the chase and the shooting, and not be advised 

about the events which precipitated the chase. Further, the 

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Appellate Case: 88-2737 Document: 01019971225 Date Filed: 04/10/1990 Page: 3 
testimony concerning the clothing Terry and Lloyd Smith were wearing, where they were seated in the car, the weapons that were in 

evidence during the course of the evening and who had fired them, 

had direct bearing on the principle issue in the case: Was it 

Terry Smith or Lloyd Smith who fired at Officer Shirley? 

The only other issue raised on appeal is the refusal of the 

district court to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense 

set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 113(d). As noted, the charge against 

Terry Smith was that he assaulted Shirley with an intent to commit 

murder, 18 U.S.C. § 113(a). The district court instructed the 

jury as to the lesser included offense set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 

113(c), namely, assault with a deadly weapon with an intent to do 

bodily harm. The jury convicted Smith on the lesser included offense. Counsel argues, in effect, that the district court should 

have "dug deeper'' and have instructed the jury on the still lesser 

included offense set out in 18 U.S.C. § 113(d), which makes an 

"assault by striking, beating or wounding," a misdemeanor, as opposed to a felony. 

We agree with the district court that the evidence did not 

support the giving of an instruction, and form of verdict, on 18 

U.S.C. § 113(d). The evidence indisputably showed that someone 

fired a shotgun at relatively short range and hit Shirley in the 

face with shotgun pellets. The jury has now determined that the 

''someone" was Terry Smith, not Lloyd Smith, and the sufficiency of 

the evidence on the question of identity is not challenged on appeal. 18 U.S.C. § 113(d), when juxtaposed with preceding sections 

of the same statute, suggests that 113(d) is limited to situations 

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Appellate Case: 88-2737 Document: 01019971225 Date Filed: 04/10/1990 Page: 4 
where a dangerous weapon is not used. That section contains the 

language ''striking, beating or wounding," and no mention is made 

of the use of a ''dangerous weapon," which is mentioned in the 

greater offense set forth in 113(c). 

Judgment affirmed. 

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Entered for the Court 

Robert H. Mcwilliams 

Circuit Judge 

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