Title: State v. Garner
Citation: 115 So. 2d 855, 238 La. 563
Docket Number: N/A
State: Louisiana
Issuer: Louisiana Supreme Court
Date: November 9, 1959

115 So. 2d 855 (1959) 238 La. 563 STATE of Louisiana v. Robert GARNER. No. 44643. Supreme Court of Louisiana. November 9, 1959. Rehearing Denied December 14, 1959. *856 Jack P. F. Gremillion, Atty. Gen., M. E. Culligan, Asst. Atty. Gen., Richard A. Dowling, Dist. Atty., Benjamin E. Smith, Asst. Dist. Atty., New Orleans, for appellant. Sam Monk Zelden, Frank Shea, New Orleans, for appellee. HAMLIN, Justice. Robert Garner was charged by bill of indictment[1] with the unlawful killing (a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:31Manslaughter) of George Carson, alias Junior Carson, on December 6, 1958. In answer to defendant's motion for a bill of particulars, the State asserted: On April 3, 1959, shortly after the filing of the above answer, the defendant filed a demurrer and motion to quash, in which he averred that the indictment was not properly founded in law and was null and void and of no legal effect. He asserted that within the purview of law it was not legally possible to charge him in the manner and with the crime as set forth in the indictment. He further stated that he was charged in the same court with the attempted murder of James Robinson (a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:27(3)) by use of a knife, whereas, the instant charge concerned itself with the death by pistol shot of one George Carson. The State supplemented its answer to the motion for a bill of particulars by a stipulation of facts. This stipulation is not in the record, but the minutes of the trial court state: The trial judge sustained the motion to quash the indictment and discharged the defendant. The State reserved a bill of exceptions, which is the subject of this appeal. In its motion for appeal, the State alleged: The trial judge's per curiam to the bill of exceptions sets forth the State's stipulation of facts supplementing its answer to the motion for a bill of particulars. Both, counsel for the State and for the defendant, stated to this Court during argument that they accepted the facts set forth in said per curiam for the purpose of their argument only. They further expressed to this Court a request for a ruling squarely on the issue as to whether the indictment as supplemented charged an offense cognizable under the law of the State of Louisiana. A determination must first be made as to whether this Court can and should refer to the recitation of facts in the trial judge's per curiam. We must keep in mind that the law abhors a multiplicity of suits; the modern-day tendency is to relax the technical rules of pleading in order to arrive at the truth and dispose of a case in an expeditious manner. Todt v. Todt, 237 La. 168, 110 So. 2d 566; Messersmith v. Messersmith, 229 La. 495, 86 So. 2d 169; Riggin v. Watson-Aven Ice Cream Co., 192 La. 469, 188 So. 144; Olivedell Planting Co. v. Town of Lake Providence, 209 La. 898, 25 So. 2d 735. We conclude that in order to avoid a multiplicity of criminal proceedings and to dispose of this matter expeditiously and without delay, we should consider the instant indictment along with the answer to the motion for a bill of particulars and the stipulation of facts referred to in the minutes, supra, and recited in the trial judge's per curiam. Cf., State v. Bessar, 213 La. 299, 34 So. 2d 785; State v. Picou, 236 La. 421, 107 So. 2d 691. Since there has been an agreement between counsel, the defendant will suffer no prejudice. The per curiam of the trial judge sets forth the following: Manslaughter is defined in LSA-R.S. 14:31 (2) (a) as: LSA-R.S. 14:30 recites: "Murder is the killing of a human being. The general attempt statute (LSA-R.S. 14:27) provides: Counsel for the State alleges in brief that the theory of the prosecution is as follows: The contention of the State, to the effect that if A attacks B and B in self-defense draws a pistol at A but accidently shoots and kills C, an innocent bystander, criminal liability is imposed on A for the death of C, is sui generis to the jurisprudence of Louisiana. Our determination must be one of finding whether or not our law imposes such liability. An attempt is a separate but lesser grade of the intended crime. LSA-R.S. 14:27, supra; State v. Broadnax, 216 La. 1003, 45 So. 2d 604; State v. Roberts, 213 La. 559, 35 So. 2d 216; State v. Espinosa, 223 La. 520, 66 So. 2d 323; State v. Johnson, 228 La. 317, 82 So. 2d 24. It is also provided, in LSA-R.S. 15:386, that the only responsive verdicts which may be rendered where the indictment charges Attempted Murder are: "Guilty as charged;" "Guilty of attempted manslaughter;" and "Not Guilty." The State is therefore correct in its first contention that "Attempted Murder" is not included or enumerated in LSA-R.S. 14:30 (Murder). In contending that the defendant is an offender within the purview of LSA-R.S. 14:31(2) (a), supra, engaged in the attempted murder of Robinson when Robinson *859 accidently shot Carson, the State relies principally on the case of Commonwealth v. Almeida, 362 Pa. 596, 68 A.2d 595, 12 A.L.R.2d 183. The facts in the above cited case are to the effect that David Almeida, Ed Hough, and James Smith were confederates in committing armed robbery of a market. The proprietor's cries of "Hold Up" brought police assistance and during a skirmish and attempted get away an off duty policeman, who happened to be at the scene, was shot and killed. Hough pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to death in the electric chair. Almeida was then charged with murder. His counsel cited certain facts which they contended raised a strong inference that the fatal shot was fired mistakenly by a policeman. On appeal from his conviction and sentence to death, Almeida contended that the trial judge erred in refusing to charge the jury as follows: "If you find that the bullet which was fired and killed the deceased was not fired by any one of the three men charged with perpetrating the robbery in question, you cannot convict the defendant of murder in the first degree." The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the conviction and sentence (its authority being Commonwealth v. Moyer, 357 Pa. 181, 53 A.2d 736) and stated: In Commonwealth v. Moyer, 357 Pa. 181, 53 A.2d 736, 740, Frederick Moyer and William Paul Byron were convicted of the murder of Harvey Zerbe, a filling station attendant employed by Earl Shank. The facts reflected that a pistol altercation occurred during an attempted robbery of the Shank Gas Station by the defendants. Zerbe was killed during the firing of shots by the bandits and Shank, the owner of the gas station. The preponderance of the evidence was that Moyer had fired the fatal shot. In an assignment of error on appeal was the following excerpt from the charge of the trial court to the jury: The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the conviction and answered affirmatively the question of whether or not the defendants could be legally convicted of murder if the bullet which killed Zerbe came from the revolver fired by Shank in an attempt by him to frustrate the attempted robbery. It stated: In Johnson v. State, 142 Ala. 70, 38 So. 182, 183, 2 L.R.A.,N.S., 897 (cited by the State), the facts showed that while defendants' father was resisting arrest by a deputy sheriff, they released one of his hands from the grasp of the arresting officer. The father, who was insane, procured a gun and shot and killed the officer without justification. Defendants were denied bail because of their indictment for murder. On appeal the charge of murder was challenged and held to be correct. In so holding, the Supreme Court of Alabama stated: In Wilson v. State, 188 Ark. 846, 68 S.W.2d 100, 101 (cited by the State), the accused and two others robbed a bank. The bank teller Guthrie, who was forced to accompany the robbers as a shield from attack in effecting escape, was accidentally shot and killed by the town marshal. On appeal from his conviction of the murder of Guthrie, Wilson contended that the following principle expounded in the cases of Commonwealth v. Moore, 121 Ky. 97, 88 S.W. 1085, 1086, 2 L.R.A.,N.S., 719, 123 Am.St.Rep. 189, 11 Ann.Cas. 1024; Commonwealth v. Campbell, 7 Allen 541, 89 Mass. 541, 83 Am.Dec. 705; and, Butler v. People of State of Illinois, 125 Ill. 641, 18 N.E. 338, 1 L.R.A. 211, 8 Am.St.Rep. 423, applied: The Supreme Court of Arkansas stated that the reason for the rule, supra, was stated in Commonwealth v. Moore, supra, to be: The Court affirmed the conviction, holding that it agreed with the principle but did not believe that it applied to Wilson. It stated: The State also cites the cases of People v. Crenshaw, 298 Ill. 412, 131 N.E. 576, 15 A. L.R. 671; Commonwealth v. MacLoon, 101 Mass. 1, 100 Am.Dec. 89; Walker v. State, 116 Ga. 537, 42 S.E. 787, 67 L.R.A. 426; and, Carbo v. State, 4 Ga.App. 583, 62 S.E. 140. We do not find the facts of these cases apposite. Defendant cites the cases of Wilson v. State, supra (also relied on by the State), Commonwealth v. Moore, Commonwealth v. Campbell, and Butler v. People of State of Illinois. The Moore, Campbell, and Butler cases, all mentioned supra in the Wilson case, hold: Particular emphasis is placed by defendant on the case of People v. Wood, Co.Ct., 186 N.Y.S.2d 141, 143, decided June 2, 1959. The facts thereof are to the effect that Benny Gibson, the owner of a tavern, evicted two patrons, Wood and Gray, from his establishment because of argument. The men continued their argument outside the bar, where Wood fired at Gray, injuring him. A foot patrolman, Wagner, came to the scene, exchanging shots with Wood. Wood jumped into an awaiting automobile, driven by his companion Archie Lee, and attempted to flee the scene. Attracted by a cry for help, Gibson emerged from his tavern and began firing his rifle. Lee halted the get away car and jumped into the street where he was mortally wounded by a passing bullet. Wood sped away. It was then discovered that an innocent bystander, George Moses, had been killed in the fire of bullets. It was later determined that the bullets which caused the deaths of Lee and Moses were fired from Gibson's gun. Wood was apprehended and charged with the murder of Lee and Moses. The Nassau County Court dismissed the indictment with the following explanation of the development of the felony murder doctrine: Some of the cases cited by the State clearly affirm or support its theory, but we find that the prosecutions were not under a statute containing the same verbiage as our murder or manslaughter statutes, supra. Such was the finding of the New York Court in the Wood case, supra. In both the Almeida and Moyer cases, supra, the defendants were charged with murder. The Pennsylvania statute recites: In speaking of the person charged with murder, the Pennsylvania statute, supra, states: "Whoever is convicted of the crime of murder * * *." Herein, the trial judge was of the opinion that the term "offender" within the context of LSA-R.S. 14:31, supra, applies: The trial judge concluded in the instant case that the term "offender" employed in LSA-R.S. 14:30, supra, meant the "killer," and that LSA-R.S. 14:31, supra, was but a continuation of LSA-R.S. 14:30. He found that: This Court has always held that: State v. Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co., 227 La. 179, 78 So. 2d 825, 827. LSA-R.S. 14:7 defines a crime as: LSA-R.S. 14:3 admonishes: "Whenever the meaning of a statute appears doubtful, it is well recognized that we should seek the discovery of the legislative intent." State v. Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co., supra; State v. Marsh, 233 La. 388, 96 So. 2d 643. In LSA-R.S. 14:30-31, the meaning of the word "offender" is not spelled out. We feel that its meaning can best be discovered by considering it in association with its accompanying words.[2] In LSA-R.S. 14:31, it is recited that a homicide is committed when the "offender" is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a felony not enumerated in Article 30 or any intentional misdemeanor directly affecting the *864 person. No mention is made therein that the "offender" is responsible for the result of a self defensive act committed by the person attacked. No intimation is made that the "offender" stands in the shoes of the person protecting his person and property with arms. We believe, as did the trial judge, that the legislative intent in employing the word "offender" contemplated the actual killer. A consideration of the term "offender" in connection with the words accompanying it precludes our affirmation of the theory advanced by the State; it is quite obvious that the Legislature overlooked a situation similar to the instant one.[3] Reason dictates and justice demands that the public safety, peace, and good order of the community should be insured at all times. Normal people should be aware of the probable and natural consequences of their acts. The instant situation is deplorable; it is, however, a matter which addresses itself to the lawmakers. If we were to adhere to the theory advanced and contended for by the State, we would be amending and enlarging the scope of the statute involved rather than giving it a proper interpretation and application. Cf., State v. Vaccaro, 200 La. 475, 8 So. 2d 299, 302. We are constrained to conclude and hold that LSA-R.S. 14:31 imposes no liability on the defendant for the death of George Carson. For the reasons assigned, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. HAMITER, J., concurs in the decree. [1] "* * Robert Garner * * * with force and arms in the Parish of Orleans aforesaid, and * * * unlawfully killed one George Carson alias Junior Carson, contrary to the form of Statute of the State of Louisiana in such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the same." [2] "* * * Among the best known of our rules of statutory construction is the phrase `noscitur a sociis' and `ejusdem generis.' The maxim has been defined as follows: "`It is known from its associates. * * * The meaning of a word is or may be known from the accompanying words. * * * Under this rule general and specific words, capable of analogous meaning, when associated together, take color from each other, so that general words are restricted to a sense analogous to less general. * * *'" State v. Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co., 227 La. 179, 78 So. 2d 825, 828; State v. Marsh, 233 La. 388, 96 So. 2d 643. [3] "It is equally well recognized that where there exists any doubt as to the interpretation of a statute upon which a prosecution is based, such doubt must be resolved in favor of the accused. * * *" State v. Viator, 229 La. 882, 87 So. 2d 115, 117. See, Marchese v. United States, 5 Cir., 126 F.2d 671.