United States v. Lewis Enos

Enos, an Indian, was convicted of an assault with a dangerous and deadly weapon upon Amelia Jesus, another Indian. The offense is described in 18 U.S.C. § 1153 , and is defined in Ariz.Rev. Stat. § 13-249. We affirm.

The testimony of every witness to the event, including the victim and Enos, is the same; Enos suddenly approached the victim from behind, and stabbed her in the back, on the right side, about six inches below the armpit, with a pocket knife having a two inch blade. The wound was about ¾" wide and at least 1" deep.

The only substantial question presented is whether the court should have instructed the jury that it could find Enos guilty of the lesser included offense of simple assault. As to this, the trial judge said:

We think that he was right.

There is no evidence whatever of any assaultive behavior by Enos other than the stabbing. It may well be, as argued by Enos, that a pocket knife is not necessarily a dangerous or deadly weapon. But when such a knife is used as it was here, it is undoubtedly such a weapon. In such circumstances, the principles of Sparf v. United States, 1895, 156 U.S. 51, 63 , 15 S.Ct. 273, 278 , 39 L.Ed. 343 are applicable here. In Sparf ,…