Majority
Headnote
1. Murder —■ Premeditation and Deliberation. An interval between the formation of an intent to kill and the infliction of a mortal wound sufficient to admit of defendant’s drawing a razor from an inside pocket of his coat or vest, opening it and placing his hand upon the deceased’s shoulder, is not so short as necessarily to negative an inference of premeditation and deliberation.This appeal is from a judgment convicting the defendant of the crime of murder in the first degree, commit
On the afternoon of Sunday, September 4th, 1897, Musaechio and three Italian friends were drinking beer in a little yard at the rear of a building known as 46 Front street, Brooklyn. After a while the defendant and three of his friends, also Italians, came in, shook hands all around, and drank beer by themselves at another place in the same yard. The eight men were thus occupied for several hours, and the two groups, apparently, had little to say to each other. It does not appear how much beer was consumed by the defendant and his friends, but during the afternoon the deceased and his friends each drank about a pint, although, according to the evidence, no one of them was apparently under its influence. Shortly after the defendant came in, Blonda, one of the three who were drinking with the deceased, invited him to drink with them, but he answered, “ Ho, we drink by ourselves, and you drink by yourselves.” There was some conversation between the defendant and the deceased, but the witnesses differ in stating their recollection of it. Blonda testified that the defendant said to the deceased, “ You give me a dollar and you go all around saying you give me a dollar,” and that the deceased replied, “ I did not say anything about the dollar.” The defendant then said, “Whenever I get a dollar I will give it to you,” and the deceased answered, “ I do not want it.” Thereupon the defendant took the deceased, who was much larger than himself, by the hand and tried to pull him out of the yard, but he got away and told him to let him go, saying, “ An older man than you are and a relation as you are, I will give you a slap,” or “ yon deserve to be slapped.” The defendant answered, “ with reason, slap me ten times,”
Diodati, in narrating the same conversation, says that the defendant spoke about a letter that he wrote to the deceased from Philadelphia while he was in prison, asking for a loan of five dollars and said that the deceased had refused to let him have it, saying, “ You have two brothers, why don’t they send it to you ? ” The defendant then took the deceased by the wrist and tried to pull him away. Right afterward he said to ' Diodati, “ You also talk Diodati,” and the deceased answered, “ That man ain’t doing anything; he is attending to his business. Did you come here to raise trouble ? ” The defendant replied, “ You have four eyes and I have six eyes.” On his cross examination Diodati stated that the defendant threatened him, the witness, and said, “You are in the gang; you take some friends with you don’t you?” and that the deceased said to the defendant that he had better go or else he would put him out.
After this conversation the witnesses agree substantially as to what occurred. Later in the afternoon the deceased and two of his friends, one having left before, started to leave the yard, went up the steps at the rear of the house, and passed through the hall to the front of the building. He was behind his two friends and the defendant followed him and when they reached the front steps was close to him. As they were about to descend the steps, the defendant drew a razor from an inside pocket of his coat or vest and putting his left hand on the shoulder of the deceased, with the razor in his right hand he cut his throat with a single stroke. Musacchio at once fell, saying, according to the statement of one of the witnesses, “ Oh my Grod, they killed me,” and of another, “Yon kill me, what did yon do that for ? ” and died almost immediately. The defendant struck at him with the razor three, times, once at least after he was down. The ambulance surgeon who promptly examined the body before it had been moved, found three cuts, one over the mastoid process, which went down to the bone but not in the neighborhood of “any vessels or
The witness Diodati says the defendant chased him with the razor in his hand shortly after Musacchio fell. Mazzio, who kept the grocery at 46 Front street, did not see the defendant strike the deceased, but saw him standing two or three feet from the body waving a razor very rapidly, and as he started to come toward the witness Mazzio told him not to come near him. Barroni, who sat on the bottom step talking with some boys, said that he heard tramping on the top step and looking up saw “ them stepping around and I got up and I saw Ferraro have one hand on his shoulder and cut him with the other hand.” Very soon the defendant ran down Front street, followed by an excited crowd, some of whom threw stones at him. The arresting officer found him on Dock street, about 300 feet from Front, and in his right hand, which was covered with blood, he held a bloody razor and would not give it up until compelled to. He was taken before Chief MacKellar at police headquarters, and according to the recollection of two policemen who were present, the chief asked the defendant, “ Why did you kill that man % ” and he answered, “ Because he is no good.” When asked, “ What were you arrested the other time for and what were you in jail the other time for ? ” he said in substance that he worked for a boss in Philadelphia who would not pay him and he assaulted him and served four and one-half years in prison for it. According to the recollection of Chief MacKellar, the defendant, when asked “ What did you do that for ? ” answered, “ I no talk,” and was then told that he need not talk if he did not wish to. The chief stated the conversation in relation to the assault in Philadelphia and the imprisonment therefor the same as the other officers. Other witnesses were sworn for
The defense called no witness who gave a different version of the homicide or the circumstances surrounding it, except one who said that he was drinking with the group surrounding the deceased in the rear of 46 Front street, and that there was no trouble or quarrel of any kind in his presence. Several witnesses, who had known the defendant for some time, testified to strange acts and incoherent conversation on his part prior to the homicide.' Oranges, who had known him but a month, testified that in January or February, 1898, he asked the defendant when in jail why he committed the murder and the answer was, “ They put me in here for a long time and they wont pay me at all.” Referring to the keeper of the prison who was present, he said, “ This man, he got good pay, but they wont pay me.” When asked in substance why he expected any pay, as he was in jail for murder, he answered, “ I didn’t commit any murder; I don’t know anything about it; well, I don’t know, it is better to meta put me in some fire or put me out of here.” The witness asked him, “ What are you going to say on the day of the case? ” “Well,” he said, “ I haven’t anything to say; I don’t know anything.” He was then told, “You will have to plead and if you plead for manslaughter you may get out.” “ Oh, no,” he replied, “ it is better for me to go on fire or they put me out and I go for my business.” When asked again, “ What did you do that murder for ? ” he said, “ Well, there is a towel on the table, you want to say this towel is not on the table, it is your fault — all the witnesses they bring in the court, but I don’t know anything about murder.” •
A brother of the defendant testified that in July, 1892, the defendant acted as if he did not know what he was talking about; that he said the company in Philadelphia gave his mother plenty of money while he was in jail and that he wanted it from her and told her not to give it to the other brother, but his mother replied, “I haven’t any money.” This witnesss when asked to describe the actions of the
Another witness, when asked as to the conduct of the defendant for a month or more previous to the homicide, said, “ sometime good; sometime wrong. He used to speak and say a good many things- about dead people and about sorcery and witchery, and so on * * * sometimes he used to speak for a half an hour or an hour, and so on, and then he used to stop right ofi and would go away, and that’s all.”
The defendant’s mother testified that “he acted like a crazy man * * * ; he used to tell me ‘ you come to Philadelphia and get my money, eh ; you come to sell one of my buildings in Philadelphia,' ” adding that he wanted the money. She also said that he owned no building in Philadelphia and that “ he used to say that he would see his dead people, mentioning all the dead people that belonged to our family.” He called her a witch and a whore, and charged that through her witchery she had brought him to prison.
One of the counsel for the defense testified that after the relatives of the defendant had employed him as counsel, he saw him in the jail and speaking in Italian told him what a
• Hr. Gonti, an official interpreter, testified that when he asked the defendant a question “ he always answered something entirely different.” When in jail he said to the witness, “ I want my money; I worked for my money and I want it. These people here work; me work all day and night, and if I get hold of them I kill every one of them. I want my money. I don’t like to work for nothing.” The witness spoke to him about pleading to a lighter offense than the crime of murder, and the defendant answered, “ I don’t care; I have to be set fire or I shall be burned up.” In court the witness told him that they were trying him for his life, and he replied, “ I don’t care what they do.”
The defendant himself was sworn, holding up his hand voluntarily for the purpose, and, answering through an interpreter, said that his mother was not living; that he had no brothers; that he did not remember the 4th of September, and did not know what was going on in court. He was asked, “ Do you remember having been in prison in Philadelphia ? ” and he answered in English, “ I decline my name, on addition the politician, the grand jury, any time want spell words that they mean in the book over here to give order, I know one get the order let me go people any place have in the country.”
In rebuttal the prosecution called two experts who had had great experience in the examination of lunacy patients, which had been substantially their entire business for a series of years. Each had examined several thousand cases of alleged insanity. They stated in substance that on two occasions some months after the homicide they examined the defendant through an interpreter, asked him various questions in relation to his birth and history, to all of which he answered, “ I don’t know.” Sometimes he answered in English questions asked through the aid of an interpreter in Italian, and at the last examination all the questions and answers were in English. At that time he apparently understood what was said to him, and some of his answers were intelligent, but others were not. These physicians, after applying the medical tests suggested by their experience, swore that the defendant was sane when they examined him, and that from the evidence on the trial, all of which they had heard, they were of the opinion that he was sane at the date of the homicide. When asked on cross-examination if certain words and acts of the defendant were those of a sane man, they answered no. While they did not say so in terms, they intimated that the defendant was shamming.
We have thus given an outline of the evidence, necessarily omitting many details, and the first question we are asked to decide is whether there was enough evidence of deliberation and premeditation, which are essential elements in the crime of murder in the first degree, to warrant the conclusion of the
In this case the time for reflection may have been very short, but, according to the evidence, it was not necessarily so. We cannot look into the defendant’s mind and see when he formed the intention to kill. A short time before the act of killing unfriendly words had passed between him and the deceased. When Mnsacchio left the yard the defendant followed him out, and, without uttering a word, drew a razor from an inside pocket of his coat or vest, opened it, put his left hand on the shoulder of the deceased, and, with the razor in his right hand, inflicted the fatal wound, which he followed up by two more, neither of which, however, were of a serious character. The defendant’s intention must be inferred from his acts, and it was a fair inference that he drew his razor for the purpose of killing the deceased. Why he carried a razor does not appear. The nature of the weapon, the manner of its use and the place where the blow-was struck, are facts of
The absence of a sufficient motive, which is urged upon us in this connection, while always significant, is not conclusive; for, as we have recently said, “ the motives which prompt the mind to the commission of crime are frequently obscure, often trivial and never adequate.” (People v. Sutherland, 154 N. Y. 345 , 353.) So, in People v. Johnson ( 139 N. Y. 358 , 361), the court said: “ There does not seem to have been any particular motive prompting the defendant to kill Peck. * * * But it is not necessary to look for a motive where the crime is plainly proved.” Where the evidence is circumstantial only, the subject of motive is more important, but when it clearly shows that the fatal act was committed willfully by the defendant, the nature of his motive is unimportant. (People v. Feigenbaum, 148 N. Y. 636 , 639 ; People v. Scott, 153 N. Y. 40 .) We think that the question of deliberation and premeditation was properly submitted to the jury and that their verdict is conclusive on that point.
We are also asked to reverse the judgment because the verdict was contrary to the weight of evidence upon the question of insanity, and we have given the subject the careful attention that its importance demands. There was evidence which, if believed by the jury, would have warranted them in finding the defendant not guilty upon the ground of insanity. So far as his conduct prior to the homicide was disclosed, it was mainly through witnesses nearly related to him and interested in his defense. It was for the jury, not for us, to decide whether they spoke the truth. The most important evidence hearing upon this branch of the case related to the conduct of
A person is not excused from criminal liability on account of insanity, except upon proof that at the time of doing the alleged criminal act he was laboring under such a defect of reason as either not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing or not to know that the act was wrong. (Penal Code, § 21.) As we have recently said, “ it is not every weak or disordered mind that is excused from the consequences of crime.” (People v. Burgess, 153 N. Y. 561 .) Hr. "Wharton says, “ Partial insanity is no defense when the crime was not its immediate product. If the defendant was sane as to the crime but insane on other topics, the insanity in the latter respect will not save him. The crime must have been the result of a delusion.” (1 Wharton’s Grim. Law, § 41.) “ The insanity must be such as to deprive the party charged with crime of the use of reason in regard to the act done. He
Only one other question requires the expression of consideration. The trial court was asked to charge that “ the evidence of the physicians in this case is not entitled to any greater weight than any other evidence, and the jury has a right to disregard such evidence entirely.” The court declined to so charge, saying “ the evidence of the physicians and all the other testimony is entirely for you, and the court will not say as matter of law that they are not entitled to any greater weight — you may find that it is entitled to no greater weight than any other evidence, or you may find that it is of greater weight. It is a question of fact for you to determine, and the jury has a right to disregard such evidence entirely, and you have a right to regard it.” The defendant excepted generally and now urges that the refusal was reversible error.
The weighing of evidence is for the jury, and it is for them to determine whether the testimony of one witness or class of witnesses weighs more than any other evidence in the case. It is not for the court to characterize evidence or pass upon its persuasive force. It is the duty of the court to lay down ■the law to the jury, and whether the evidence of the physicians was entitled to greater weight than any other evidence was not a question of law but a question of fact. The court properly left the subject to the jury, with the instruction that it was a question of fact for them to determine, at the same time telling them that it was their right to disregard such evidence entirely, or to regard it.
We find no error in the record which requires a reversal, and we are of the opinion that the verdict was not against the weight of evidence. It follows that the judgment should be affirmed.
All concur, except Mabtin, J., dissenting, and Haight, J., absent.
Judgment 'affirmed.
Cases cited
- People v. Majone 91 N. Y. 211 p. 366
- People v. Kelly 113 N. Y. 647 p. 366
- People v. Nino 149 N. Y. 317 p. 366
- People v. Hoch 150 N. Y. 291 p. 366
- People v. Braun 158 N. Y. 558 p. 366
- People v. Schuyler 106 N. Y. 298 p. 366
- People v. Loppy 128 N. Y. 629 p. 366
- People v. Smith 139 N. Y. 361 p. 366
- People v. Conroy 97 N. Y. 62 at 76 p. 375
- Leighton v. People 88 N. Y. 117 p. 375
- People v. Hawkins 109 N. Y. 408 at 411 p. 375
- People v. Constantino 153 N. Y. 24 p. 376
- People v. Decker 157 N. Y. 186 at 194 p. 376
- People v. Kennedy 159 N. Y. 346 at 352 p. 376
- People v. Sutherland 154 N. Y. 345 at 353 p. 376
- People v. Feigenbaum 148 N. Y. 636 at 639 p. 376
- People v. Scott 153 N. Y. 40 p. 376
- People v. Burgess 153 N. Y. 561 p. 377