{
  "id": 8551469,
  "name": "STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. BOBBY LEE HOLSHOUSER",
  "name_abbreviation": "State v. Holshouser",
  "decision_date": "1972-08-02",
  "docket_number": "No. 7219SC508",
  "first_page": "469",
  "last_page": "472",
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      "cite": "15 N.C. App. 469"
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  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "N.C. Ct. App.",
    "id": 14983,
    "name": "North Carolina Court of Appeals"
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    "name_long": "North Carolina",
    "name": "N.C."
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    {
      "cite": "200 S.E. 415",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.",
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      "cite": "214 N.C. 700",
      "category": "reporters:state",
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      "cite": "229 N.C. 647",
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    {
      "cite": "108 S.E. 2d 485",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.2d",
      "year": 1959,
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    {
      "cite": "250 N.C. 229",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "N.C.",
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        8621655
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      "year": 1959,
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    {
      "cite": "173 S.E. 2d 613",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.2d",
      "year": 1970,
      "opinion_index": 0
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    {
      "cite": "7 N.C. App. 707",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "N.C. App.",
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        8552896
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T17:26:51.335715+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
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  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "Judges Brock and Morris concur."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. BOBBY LEE HOLSHOUSER"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "HEDRICK, Judge.\nThe defendant assigns as error the denial of his timely motions for judgment as of nonsuit.\nInvoluntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being, unintentionally and without malice, proximately resulting from the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or resulting from some act done in an unlawful or culpably negligent manner, when fatal consequences were not improbable under all the facts existent at the time, or resulting from the culpably negligent omission to perform a legal duty. 4 Strong, N. C. Index 2d, Homicide, \u00a7 6, p. 198; State v. Curtis, 7 N.C. App. 707, 173 S.E. 2d 613 (1970); State v. Honeycutt, 250 N.C. 229, 108 S.E. 2d 485 (1959).\nThe record on appeal is silent as to many of the relevant circumstances surrounding this shooting. For instance, there is no evidence to indicate the approximate time of the shooting; how and by whom deceased was transported to the hospital; what time she arrived at the hospital; when defendant\u2019s sister and brother-in-law arrived at defendant\u2019s home and whether they witnessed the shooting; and the relative location of the bed and the closet door. Had evidence of these and other surrounding circumstances been brought out it would no doubt have aided in the search for the truth. Whether it would have bolstered the State\u2019s or defendant\u2019s case, we cannot say; but the record would not be left in such an obviously undeveloped condition.\nIn our opinion when the evidence adduced at the defendant\u2019s trial in the Superior Court is considered in the light most favorable to the State, it tends to show an accidental shooting. There is no evidence in this record tending to show that the defendant intentionally discharged the gun or that he handled it so recklessly as to constitute culpable negligence. State v. Honeycutt, supra; State v. Robinson, 229 N.C. 647, 50 S.E. 2d 740 (1948). Evidence tending to show that the wife said, \u201cDon\u2019t shoot me,\u201d standing alone, is not sufficient to raise an inference that the defendant intentionally pointed the weapon at her, State v. Head, 214 N.C. 700, 200 S.E. 415 (1939), or that he handled it in such a careless and reckless manner as to amount to culpable negligence. State v. Honeycutt, supra.\nOn this record we hold the Court erred in not allowing the defendant\u2019s motion for judgment as of nonsuit. The judgment is\nReversed.\nJudges Brock and Morris concur.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "HEDRICK, Judge."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Attorney General Robert Morgan and Associate Attorney Thomas E. Kane for the State.",
      "Robert M. Davis for defendant appellant."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. BOBBY LEE HOLSHOUSER\nNo. 7219SC508\n(Filed 2 August 1972)\n1. Homicide \u00a7 6\u2014 involuntary manslaughter \u2014 elements\nInvoluntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being, unintentionally and without malice, proximately resulting from the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or resulting from some act done in an unlawful or culpably negligent manner, when fatal consequences were not improbable under all the facts existent at the time, or resulting from the culpably negligent omission to perform a legal duty.\n2. Homicide \u00a7 21\u2014 accidental shooting \u2014 involuntary manslaughter \u2014 sufficiency of evidence to withstand motion for nonsuit\nIn an action charging defendant with the murder of his wife, the trial court erred in not granting defendant\u2019s motion for nonsuit when the evidence, considered in the light most favorable to the State, tended to show an accidental shooting, and there was no evidence tending to show that defendant intentionally discharged the gun or that he handled it so recklessly as to constitute culpable negligence.\n3. Homicide \u00a7 21\u2014 statement of deceased \u2014 sufficiency to support charge of second degree murder\nIn a murder prosecution evidence tending to show that the wife said, \u201cDon\u2019t shoot me,\u201d standing alone, is not sufficient to raise an inference that the defendant husband intentionally pointed the gun at her.\nAppeal by defendant from Johnston, Judge, 21 February 1972 Session of Superior Court held in Rowan County.\nThe defendant, Bobby Lee Holshouser, was charged in a bill of indictment proper in form with the murder of Letha Eller Holshouser on 21 November 1971.\nOn the defendant\u2019s plea of not guilty, the State offered evidence tending to show that about 9:30 p.m., 20 November 1971, Rowan County Chief Deputy Sheriff Charles E. Herion received a call and went to the Rowan County Memorial Hospital where Dr. Parrott requested him to find Bobby Lee Hols-houser and bring him to the hospital for the purpose of giving his consent for surgery to be performed on Mrs. Holshouser. Herion, with some other deputies, arrived at Holshouser\u2019s home before 10:00 p.m. where they found the defendant, his sister, and his sister\u2019s husband. The deputy told the defendant that he was needed at the hospital to give his consent for his wife to go into surgery. The defendant was seated at the kitchen table with his sister drinking coffee. The defendant hesitated, took a few more sips of coffee, and his brother-in-law said, \u201cGo ahead, Bobby, you are needed.\u201d The defendant went out and got in the backseat of the deputy\u2019s automobile. The deputy testified he was not at Holshouser\u2019s house for more than 3 or 4 minutes. On the way to the hospital the defendant talked about what had happened.\nDeputy Sheriff Herion testified:\n\u201cMr. Holshouser stated that, \u2018I\u2019m going to get rid of that gun.\u2019 He stated he got the gun down from over the top of the closet door and his wife said, \u2018Don\u2019t shoot me.\u2019 He then stated, \u2018The gun went off.\u2019 He then stated to us that, \u2018My wife must have loaded the gun\u2019; we proceeded on and when I was approaching 1-85, where 1-85 crosses highway 52 down here, he asked me if I could not drive faster that I was a police officer and I could use a blue light and siren of this nature and couldn\u2019t I go faster. . . . Mr. Holshouser was highly under the influence, holding onto the car. In my opinion Mr. Holshouser was highly under the influence of some intoxicating liquor.\n. . . Bobby Holshouser told me that he was taking the gun off the wall to clean it when it went off, that he and his uncle were going rabbit hunting or something Monday and he said he was taking it down to clean it. . . . He told me his wife was seated on the bed at that time. . . . He made a statement on the way to the hospital something to the effect that he did not intentionally fire the gun. He made the statement to me, \u2018Lord God, I love my wife, I didn\u2019t mean to shoot her.\u2019\n. . . Mr. Holshouser wasn\u2019t hesitant. ... He wasn\u2019t hesitant about signing the papers. ... He signed the papers after some little time. That\u2019s when they operated on his wife. They took her out of the emergency room at 12:02 in the morning. ... He went over and set with some of his people in the lobby. ... We stayed in the surrounding there up until Mrs. Holshouser passed away. . . . This was at 2:40. . . . During this time Bobby stayed there stepping back and forth to ask questions about his wife.\u201d\nAfter Mrs. Holshouser\u2019s death, the deputy returned to the defendant\u2019s home where he found a twenty gauge single barrel shotgun hanging on some nails over a closet door and one spent shell on the dresser. There was a small blood stain on the side of the bed. Mrs. Holshouser\u2019s death resulted from a shotgun wound in the abdomen.\nThe jury found the defendant guilty of involuntary manslaughter and from a judgment imposing a prison sentence of 5 to 8 years, the defendant appealed.\nAttorney General Robert Morgan and Associate Attorney Thomas E. Kane for the State.\nRobert M. Davis for defendant appellant."
  },
  "file_name": "0469-01",
  "first_page_order": 493,
  "last_page_order": 496
}