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153 Kan. 337

State v. Phelps

Supreme Court of Kansas

Decided March 8, 1941

Supreme Court of Kansas · decided 1941-03-08

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““Instruction No. 3. “You are instructed that the law of Kansas in Section 21-420 provides: ‘Every other killing of a human being, by the act, procurement or culpable negligence of another, which would be manslaughter at the common law, and which is not excusable or Justifiable, or is not declared in this article to be manslaughter in some other degree, shall be deemed manslaughter in the fourth degree.’ “Instruction No. 4. “Since in Instruction No. 3 the phrase, ‘manslaughter at the common law’ has been used, it is necessary to define such expression, since the charge on which defendant is being tried in this case is that set out in our statute as shown in Section 21-420 and you are instructed that manslaughter at the common law is defined as the unlawful killing of another without malice, express or implied, which may be either voluntary under a sudden heat, or involuntary but in the commission of some unlawful act. The common law did not sanction the conviction of a man of manslaughter resulting from negligent conduct unless his conduct was accompanied by a wrong mental attitude having the qualities of recklessness; and to be reckless within the provisions of the definition, the conduct must he as to evince disregard of or indifference to consesequences under circumstances involving danger to life or safety of others, al though no harm was intended. Consequently, you will limit your consideration in this case to the alleged acts of negligence which have been shown, if you f”

quoted by 1 later decision, including State v. Brooks

Relies on State v. Gloyd · State v. Custer · State v. Phelps

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1941-03-08

How this case has been cited

Cited by 14 later decisions — most recently July 1961

14 state decisions

80194119501960decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1*338The opinion of the court was delivered by

DawsoN, C. J.:

¶2This was a criminal prosecution for the killing of a man and his wife on a public highway a short distance east of Lawrence, and it is the second appearance of the case in this court. Defendant has again been convicted of manslaughter in the fourth degree and sentenced accordingly. The evidence was substantially the same in the second trial as in the first, so the comprehensive statement of the case in our first opinion, written by Mr. Justice Hoch, will suffice for the purpose of this review. (State v. Phelps, 151 Kan. 199, 97 P. 2d 1105.)

¶3The first error complained of is directed against the instructions given and refused. Defendant contends that the instruction on manslaughter in the fourth degree was incorrect, but he does not show in what respect it is faulty. It included the substance of the statute (G. S. 1935, 21-420), which declares that every killing of a human being by the act, procurement or culpable negligence of another, which would be manslaughter at the common law, and which is not manslaughter in some other degree, shall be deemed manslaughter in the fourth degree. Following that statement, the court-defined the terms “manslaughter,” “culpable negligence,” and “negligence.” This was in accord with the authorities quoted in State v. Custer, 129 Kan. 381, 282 Pac. 1071, and conformed with the rule applied in State v. Gloyd, 148 Kan. 706, 84 P. 2d 966, and State v. Phelps, supra. There is no analogy between the facts of the instant case, nor the pertinent law relating thereto, and State v. Bowser, 124 Kan. 556, 261 Pac. 846, to which counsel for defendant direct our attention.

¶4Complaint is made against the trial court’s instruction dealing with the issue of alleged negligent operation of the automobile in which the two victims of the tragedy were riding. The court told the jury that —

“The question of whether or not the car in which the deceased persons were riding was operated in a negligent manner is entirely proper for you to consider in determining what your verdict should be, but the fact, if it be a fact, that such car was negligently driven does not constitute a defense to any of the crimes charged if upon the whole you are satisfied, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant, Phelps, is guilty either of manslaughter or of reckless driving as defined in section 8-531, R. S., or negligent homicide in violation of section 8-529 (G. S. 1939 Supp.).”

¶5*339The trial court was not required to put all the pertinent law of the case into one paragraph of its instructions, and the part just quoted was both pertinent and proper.

¶6Another criticism of the instructions is that they did not fully cover defendant’s theory of the case — that the court failed to advise the jury that the negligence of Brown (the deceased, driver of the other car) should be taken into consideration in arriving at their verdict of the guilt or innocence of defendant. This criticism is not good; the point contended for was fairly covered by other instructions needless to quote; but the court’s 13th instruction is worth repeating:

“The instructions in this case attempt to cover the situation as a whole and are somewhat disconnected in order that they may cover the various questions presented. However, no single observation should be singled out and made the basis of your verdict without reference to the others, for the reason that they should be considered as a whole and applied as a whole.”

¶7It is next argued that the court should have instructed the jury that it was not unlawful for the appellant to turn out to the left to pass the ear ahead of it, “as the road . . . was practically level for several hundred feet.” But the road was not level; there was a “dip to the east,” and appellant did not know of this dip. When one is unfamiliar with the road on which he is driving in the nighttime, he cannot with impunity take chances on mere appearances and drive ahead without regard to the possibility of causing death or injury to other persons on the highway. Two people died because defendant sought to pass another car on the highway without being well assured that he had time and distance to do so without danger to the lives and limbs and property of others.

¶8It is also contended that the court submitted the case to the jury on the theory that there were two offenses committed, when, if any, it was but a single offense. This general theme was discussed at length in State v. Taylor, 138 Kan. 407, 26 P. 2d 598. See, also, 20 A. L. R. 341-351, 113 A. L. R. 222-228. Here the trial court refused to give this requested instruction.

“You are further advised that while the defendant is charged in the information on two counts [one for the death of Mr. Brown and the other for the death of Mrs. Brown], nevertheless, if you should find the defendant guilty of manslaughter, he can be found guilty only on one count; that matter I will take care of in the forms of verdict submitted to you.”

¶9However, following verdict of conviction, sentence for a single offense of manslaughter in the fourth degree was imposed, and it is *340not discernible how defendant could have been prejudiced by the refusal to give the instruction requested. (State v. Emory, 116 Kan. 381, 383, 226 Pac. 754.)

¶10The next error urged is on the overruling of the demurrer to the state’s evidence and the court’s refusal to instruct the jury to return a verdict of not guilty. It is argued that the killing of Mr. and Mrs. Brown was “nothing more or less than an accident.” A patient reading of the record does not support that view — certainly not to the extent that the trial court should have taken the case from the jury. x

¶11The next error assigned is merely a reargument of the evidence, from which it is contended that the court should not have approved the verdict. No shadow of error appears on this point.

¶12The judgment is affirmed.

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