People v. Riley

THOMPSON, J. The defendant, William Ashton Riley, was indicted by the Grand Jury of Sonoma County for the crime of murdering Jessie L. Brassill, with whom he had been living for several years on her ranch in Rincon Valley as man and wife. He was convicted by a jury of manslaughter. It is contended, on appeal, that the corpus delicti was not proved and that there is no evidence of the deceased having died as the result of an injury sustained through any act or fault of the defendant.

Mrs. Jessie L. Brassill, a widow, who was about forty-five years of age, lived on a seven-acre ranch which she owned near Santa Rosa, in Sonoma County. She also owned stocks and securities of the par value of about $15,000. Her husband had been dead for several years. She had no children. Her property was subject to a revocable declaration of trust in which the Wells Fargo Bank & Union Trust Company of San Francisco was named as trustee.

The defendant was commonly called “Slim.” He was fifty-three years of age and had formerly been a farmer and stock-man. He had a wife and four children from whom he had been separated for six years or more. He was not divorced. He owned no property. He became acquainted with Mrs. Brassill about 1940, after which he lived with her on her Rincon Valley ranch as man and wife. He assisted in the management of the farm, claiming that they were partners.

On November 10, 1943, Mrs. Brassill executed her will, giving all of her property to the defendant, designating him as her friend. She appointed him executor of that will, without bonds. On February 8, 1944, she executed a declaration of trust with relation to all of her property, including the seven-acre Rincon Valley ranch, and the stocks and securities of the approximate par value of $15,000. The Wells Fargo Bank [172]was made trustee. Most of the residue of her estate was given to the defendant, and in the event of his death it was to be equally divided between Miles Riley, a son of the defendant, and Mary Roberts, a friend of the trustor.

Both the deceased and the defendant were addicted to the use of intoxicating liquor. She sometimes drank to excess. It appears that they usually lived in harmony. There is, however, some evidence to the contrary. Lawrence Keek, a neighbor, who frequently visited the Brassill ranch, testified that he once saw the defendant slap the deceased. Mrs. Ida Walker, another neighbor, who visited the Brassill home on numerous occasions, testified that she went there on June 26, 1944, to sell a war bond, and that while she was making out the bond Mrs. Brassill and the defendant were arguing over some matter, and the witness heard the defendant say to Mrs. Brassill, “Yeah, I will see you six feet under first.” No explanation was made regarding that remark except that Mrs. Brassill then said: “I’m sore at Slim.” Mrs. Evelyn Elliott, who was a friend of the deceased, was visiting her home on and after June 25th. She was the only eyewitness to the incident which occurred on June 27th between the defendant and Mrs. Bras-sill in the back yard of the premises over the removal of some calves, during which, the prosecution claims, the defendant struck or knocked Mrs. Brassill down, causing the injury above her left ear which the physicians testified resulted in her death four days later. The chief issue on this appeal is whether there is any evidence that the defendant caused the traumatic injury over the deceased’s left ear, which the doctors testified resulted in hemorrhage of the brain or subdural hematoma and subsequent death.