People v. Beardsley

150 Mich. 205, 113 N.W. 1128 (1907)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D was a married man living at Pontiac, and was working as a bartender and clerk at the Columbia Hotel. He lived with his wife in Pontiac, occupying two rooms on the ground floor of a house. Other rooms were rented to tenants, as was also one living room in the basement. With his wife being temporarily absent from the city, D arranged with a woman named Blanche Burns to go to his apartments with him. He had been acquainted with her for some time. They knew each other’s habits and character. They had drunk liquor together, and had on two occasions been in Detroit and spent the night together in houses of assignation. D met her at the place where she worked, and they went together to his place of residence. They at once began to drink and continued to drink steadily, and remained together, day and night, from that time until the afternoon of the Monday following, except when D went to his work on Sunday afternoon. After the liquor was gone, they were served with bottles of whiskey and beer by a young man who worked at the Columbia Hotel, and who also attended D's fires at the house. He was the only person who saw them in the house during the time they were there together. D gave orders for liquor by telephone. On Monday, the young man went to the house to see if anything was wanted. He heard D say they must fix up the rooms, and the woman must not be found there by his wife, who was likely to return at any time. The house the woman sent the young man to a drug store to purchase camphor and morphine tablets. He procured both articles. There were six grains of morphine in quarter-grain tablets. She concealed the morphine from D's notice and was discovered putting something into her mouth by him and the young man as they were returning from the other room after taking a drink of beer. She was taking morphine. D struck the box from her hand. Some of the tablets fell on the floor, and D crushed several with his foot. She picked up and swallowed two of them, and the young man put two of them in the spittoon. She took from three to four grains of morphine. The young man went away but D called him by telephone about an hour later, and after he came to the house requested him to take the woman into the room in the basement which was occupied by a Mr. Skoba. She was in a stupor and did not rouse when spoken to. D was too intoxicated to be of any assistance. While doing this Skoba arrived, and together they put her in his room on the bed. D requested Skoba to look after her, and let her out the back way when she woke up. Between nine and ten o'clock in the evening, Skoba became alarmed at her condition. He at once called the city marshal and a doctor. An examination by them disclosed that she was dead. D was convicted of manslaughter under the theory that D omitted to perform his duty of care to protect her. D appealed.