Hopkins v. State
Hopkins v. State
Opinion of the Court
At a special term of the Circuit Court of St. Johns county, held in January, 1906, Harry Hopkins was indicted by the grand jury. ' The indictment contained three counts: The first count charges him with the larceny of one scarf pin, head of goddess, with crown set in brilliants, of the value of $50, one. scarf pin, small sapphire pin, set with a ruby, diamond and other stones, of the value of $50, and one pair diamond cuff buttons of the value of $25, of the property, goods and chattels of the East Coast Railway Company. The second count charges the larceny of the above property and one other scarf pin of the value of $50, total value $175, of the property of A. W. Masters, then
A motion was made by the Attorney General to strike the bill of exceptions because of a failure to comply with Rule 103 of the Rules of 1873, or with Special Rules 1, 2 and 3 of the Rules of 1905, in its preparation. The bill of exceptions containing the proceedings on the trial is very inartificially prepared and seems to be nothing more than a copy of the stenographer’s notes of the trial. Very many of the objections and exceptions to various rulings of the court are entirely too general to permit us to give them any critical examination, according to the established rules of this and other courts. But there are some matters contained therein which we may fairly consider, so far as they are properly assigned as error and argued in the briefs, and for that reason the motion to strike the bill of exceptions is denied.
The first assignment of error presented is based on the refusal of the court .to grant an application for a contin
The next assignment argued is that no venue was proven. The contention is that if a larceny or embezzlement was proven, the offense was proven to have occurred in Duval county, and not in St. Johns. The facts summarily stated are that Hopkins was the baggage master of the East Coast Railway Company, making two trips a day from St. Augustine in St. Johns county, to Jacksonville, in Duval county, and back again. On the 3rd of Miarch, 1905, the train left St. Augustine for Jacksonville in the morning about 9 o’clock, A. M., and left Jacksonville on the return trip at 9:55 A. M., and arrived at St. Augustine at 10 :55 A. M. This train was numbered 27. The same train left St. Augustine at 6:10 P. M., and arrived at Jacksonville at 7:32 P. M., and was numbered 30. The same conductor ran on both trains, and the same baggage master, the defendant, Hopkins. Baggage from the North for St. Augustine was' delivered to Hopkins at
The next assignment of error is based on the action of the court in admitting in evidence over the objection of defendant a carbon copy of the record made in Atlanta of the 'baggage checked out of Atlanta on the Southern train, made by Mr. Holland, the night baggage agent at the Union Depot, and covering the second of March, 1905. It was objected to as being a copy and not the best evidence. It seems that two^ or more duplicates of this record are made at once by means of carbon, and we think they may well be considered as duplicates, and as primary evidence. 17 Cyc. 517. The same question occurs several times in this case and we shall not refer to it again.
The fourth assignment of error is based on the ruling of the court allowing the witness Hughey to answer this question: “Do you identify that signature on that manifest as Mr. Hopkins’ signature?” The witness answered, “Yes, sir.” Afterwards one of the attorneys for the defendant objected to this answer,' because the witness would not swear positively to the signature. There was
The seventh assignment of error is" predicated on a question to the witness Watson that was not answered.
The twelfth and thirteenth assignments of error are based on rulings of the court overruling objections to questions put by the State to the defendant Hopkins. The stenographer’s notes copied into the bill of exceptions only show general objections to these questions.- One was, “we object to that, your Honor,” and the other, “we object to that. It is improper.” No particular ground of objection is shown. We can not consider such objections. Hoodless v. Jernigan, 46 Fla. 213, 35 South. Rep. 656.
The sixteenth assignment is based on the ruling of the court refusing to give the following instruction to the jury at the request of the defendant, vis: “The court further charges you while the alleged confession of the defendant is proper to be considered yet should be received by you with great caution.” Where confessions are relied on for conviction this court has held that the refusal to give such a charge is error. Anthony v. State, 44 Fla. 1, 32 South. Rep. 818. The trial judge sua sponte, charged the jury in this connection as follows: “You will take also into consideration any proof of the confessions made by the defendant considering the circumstances under which these confessions were made, and weigh that confession as you would the testimony of any other witness. That confession, gentlemen, goes to you. The court as
This juror was challenged by the defendant peremptorily- '
Assignments twenty-six and twenty-seven raise a more •difficult question. Mr. Jeffords and Mr. Henry were examined as jurors on their voir dire, and it appears that they answered all the questions put to them satisfactorily, yet they said in answer to the court’s questions that they were in the employment of the East Coast Railway Company. They were challenged for cause, and this challenge was overruled, and then the defendant challenged them peremptorily. Under assignment No. 28 it appears that Mr. Colee was thoroughly examined by the court on his voir dire as a juryman and answered the questions propounded thereby showing himself to be in all respects a qualified and unobjectionable juror. The defendant challenged Mr. Colee peremptorily. His challenge was disallowed because he had exhausted his challenges, and an exception to the ruling noted. Mr. Colee was sworn and sat on the jury. It is contended that inasmuch as the action of the court in improperly overruling the challenges to Messrs. Jeffords and Henry compelled the defendant to exhaust two of his peremptory challenges, he was thereby deprived of his right to challenge Mr. Colee. The questions involved have never been decided by this court that we can discover.
While all the members of the court are of the opinion that it is better practice to excuse jurors under these cir
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Harry Hopkins, in Error v. The State of Florida, Defendent in Error
- Cited By
- 38 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Where a continuance was asked for on two grounds, first, that the defendant was too sick to go into a trial, and,second, that his leading attorney was necessarily absent on account of sickness, and it appears that he had been sick with malarial fever previous to the trial, but there is nothing to show that he was ill at the timé of the trial, and it does appear from his testimony that he had the full possession of his faculties, and that he was represented by three attorneys, the refusal of the continuance • presents no ground for a reversal. 2. It is not necessary in a criminal case for the venue to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt; and where the crime charged is embezzlement and the evidence shows that the property came into the possession and custody of a baggage master of a railroad on a run beginning in Duval county and ending in St. Johns county, and was appropriated by him on this run, and the jury could reasonably conclude from the evidence that the baggage master had the property in his possession in St. Johns county where it was his duty to deliver it when he completed his run, he was properly indicted and convicted in St. Johns county. 3. Where the records of a railroad company are made in duplicate or triplicate, they are each primary evidence of their contents and each is admissible in evidence without producing the others or accounting for their absence. 4. Proof of handwriting is a matter of opinion, v and where a witness identified a signature as that of the defendant, and subsequently testified that he had seen the defendant write his name, and the signature looked like his, no error is committed in permitting this evidence to go to the jury. 5. General objections to questions put to witnesses will not be considered on appeal unless the evidence sought is palpably prejudicial, improper and inadmissible for any purpose or under any circumstances. 6. Alleged errors in giving or refusing charges or instructions, and in the admission or rejection of testimony which do not weaken the effect.of the admitted testimony, and which do not reach the legality of the trial itself will not be considered grounds for reversal where the evidence leaves no room for reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt. 7. In a criminal prosecution of a baggage master of a railroad company for embezzlement of the property of a passenger entrusted to such baggage master for delivery at tne destination of the passenger, all the members of the court are of opinion that it is the better practice for the trial court to excuse from the jury the employes of the railroad company, but the members of the court are equally divided in opinion as to whether the trial court can be held in error for refusing so to do, and the question is, therefore, not decided.