State v. Foster
State v. Foster
Opinion of the Court
I. On the sixteenth day of June, 1883, two horses, the property of one Silknitter, were stolen from his barn on his farm near Centerville, in Appanoose county. As soon as the theft of the horses was discovered, pursuit was made; and, in a day or two after the crime was committed, the thief was caught in Warren county, with the horses in his possession. He gave his name as that of William Foster. He was brought back to Centerville, by way of Char-iton, and lodged in jail, to await the action of the grand jury. His bail was fixed at the sum of five hundred dollars. On the first day of September, 1883, before the indictment was found, one W. S. Scott appeared and deposited five hundred dollars in lieu of bail, and Foster was released from custody. An indictment was found Shortly afterwards; and, when Foster was called to answer thereto, he failed to appear, and the deposit of five hundred dollars was forfeited. The status of the cause remained unchanged for about five years, when a man was arrested at Bowling Green, in the state of Ohio, upon a charge of horse-stealing. The sheriff of Appanoose county suspected that the man arrested in Ohio was the same person who stole Silknitter ’ s horses; and, upon request, the authorities in Ohio sent a photograph of their prisoner to said sheriff, who proceeded to Ohio, procured a requisition from the governor of that state, and brought the defendant to Centerville to answer to the indictment. A plea of not guilty was interposed, and a trial was had, and the defendant was found guilty, and the verdict was set aside, and a new trial granted. The new trial resulted in a verdict of guilty, and from a judgment of conviction, as above stated, this appeal was taken.
It is conceded that the two horses were stolen, and that the man in whose possession they were found was
The person who was arrested while in possession of the horses and brought from Warren county, by way of Chariton, to Centerville, taken before a justice of the peace, and committed to jail, was of course seen by many people. The state called and examined twenty-three witnesses upon the question of identity, and twenty-two of them testified positively that the defendant was the identical man who was arrested and brought to Centerville and placed in jail. Many of these witnesses appear to have been in possession of such knowledge of Foster as to leave little doubt that the defendant is the same man. One of them was the man at whose house Foster was stopping with the horses when the arrest was made. Another rode in a buggy with Foster from Chariton to Centerville. One or two of the witnesses were comrades of Foster while he was in jail. Others went to the jail while he was confined there for the purpose of seeing him. Now, while it is true that about five years elapsed from the time that Foster was released from jail until the defendant was brought from the state of Ohio to this state, yet the evidence of the identity of the person of the defendant when the state rested its case was more than sufficient to convict the defendant. It was absolutely overwhelming.
The defendant called and examined seven witnesses, three of whom were residents of Appanoose county.
Notwithstanding the testimony of these witnesses, the jury found the defendant guilty. In our opinion, they were fully warranted in so finding. We cannot give the evidence in detail. It is sufficient to say that there are many circumstances which lead to the conclusion that the man who appeared at Centerville and Lineville, and claimed to be Foster, was not the man he represented himself to be. The state in some way procured a picture, known as a “tintype,” of this person. It is true it is not admitted by the defendant that the picture is that of the man who claimed to be Foster, but the evidence shows that fact without much question; and it appears, without any real question, that the tintype is not a picture of the Foster who stole the horses in 1883. We are content to abide by the verdict of the jury, without any serious question in our minds as to its correctness.
II. There is little more in the case which we think demands attention at our hands. The instructions given by the court to the jury are fair to the defendant.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The State of Iowa v. M. B. Foster
- Status
- Published