People v. Bennett

JAMES, J.

The defendant was charged with the crime of assault with a deadly weapon. The jury returned a verdict finding him guilty as charged in the information. He appeals from the judgment and from an order denying a motion for a new trial.

The crime, as described in the information, consisted in the firing of a shotgun at Maggie Scuffi in the county of Tulare in September, 1917. The complainant testified that she resided on a ranch at the time in question and residing with her was a woman called Mrs. Bradley; that on the day of the alleged assault defendant drove up to the gate in front of the ranch house and asked for Mrs. Bradley; that the latter went out to the buggy, and, after some moments had passed, complainant heard Mrs. Bradley say, “My God, Tom, don’t”; that she went to the door and saw that the defendant had Mrs. Bradley by the throat, choking her; that the complainant then starred to go to the assistance of the woman,

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when defendant pointed a shotgun at her face and said, “If you come another step, we will all go together”; that in the meantime Mrs. Bradley had gotten hold of the barrel of the gun and forced it up and that complainant rushed in and also seized the weapon; that the two women begged the defendant to give up the gun, but that he refused, although upon the solicitation of Mrs. Bradley he did take a shell out of the gun; that Mrs. Bradley then turned and walked into the house. Complainant testified further as follows: “Then I said a few words to him about threatening to burn my property and do me harm that way and then he drove out of the yard and started to go toward town, and I went into the house, and after I turned to go into the door he turned back again and drove in front of my place, and just a minute I looked through the door that he had just passed through in front of the door and had the gun pointed at an angle, and I stepped into a room where Mrs. Bradley had fell down crying and he shot the gun through the screen.” The testimony of witness Mrs. Bradley was corroborative of that given by the complainant. Defendant testified at the trial, admitting his presence at the Scuffi ranch on the day in question, and also admitting that he discharged a shotgun on that occasion. He stated that he went there for the purpose of persuading Mrs. Bradley to leave the home of Maggie Scuffi, as he did not think it a fit place for her. When asked why he discharged the weapon he stated that he did it to “put the fear of God in the heart of Maggie Scuffi.” He denied having aimed the gun at the door, stating that he aimed it upward, but that as the mare hitched to the buggy suddenly started, the muzzle of the gun was pulled down. From this brief statement of the evidence it will at once be perceived that there was no lack of evidence to sustain the verdict as found by the jury; in fact, it would be difficult to reconcile any other verdict than that returned with the evidence adduced.