Court Opinion

ID: 9545310
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:09:58.988771+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:14:32.265744
License: Public Domain

BUSSEY, Presiding Judge,
concurs in results:
After considering the totality of the evidence, including the statement given to the *569officers by the defendant, wherein he acknowledged that he shot the deceased but could give no reason for doing so, I am of the opinion that the facts support a conviction for Manslaughter in the First Degree and justify a sentence of twenty-five years. The defendant committed a misdemeanor when he whirled and fired the rifle in the direction of the deceased at a distance of eighty yards. He was not an expert marksman, and the record is devoid of any evidence or circumstances tending to support the conclusion that the homicide was committed with the premeditated design to effect the death of the deceased. Clearly this falls within the purview of 21 O.S.1971, §711:
“Homicide is manslaughter in the first degree in the following cases:
“1. When perpetrated without a design to effect death by a person while engaged in the commission of a misdemeanor.