Mora v. State
Mora v. State
Opinion of the Court
Appellant was convicted of assault and battery with intent to kill. He and his victim, both Italians, were common laborers in a gas plant at the city of South Bend. On Sunday morning, May 29, 1921, while prosecuting witness was working in the generator room at this plant, appellant approached him and fired three shots from a 32-caliber revolver, two of which took effect, one in the groin and the other in the leg just above the knee. The third struck a wheelbarrow which prosecuting witness had loaded with cinders and was about to remove from the room. It is claimed by the appellant that he was acting in self-defense; that the prosecuting witness was assaulting him with a butcher knife at the time the shots were fired. The evidence shows that appellant was a suitor of the sister of the wife of the prosecuting witness, and appellant claims that the prosecuting witness had threatened to kill him and the sister-in-law if he did not cease his attentions. In this he is corroborated by the prosecuting witness’ sister-in-law, who, between the date of the assault and the date of the trial of this case, became appellant’s wife; and is also corroborated by the father-in-law and mother-in-law. Prosecuting witness denied that any such threats were ever made; that, he had any interest in, or was in any way interfering with, his sister-in-law’s affairs of the heart. His version of the trouble was that he had a dispute with his father-in-law and mother-in-law about a debt of twelve dollars which he claimed and which they refused to pay.
. Appellant next claims error because the state in cross-examination of him attempted to lay the ground for impeachment on a matter wholly immaterial. We have examined the objections in the transcript and find no sufficient objection made and no exception saved. In other words, appellant did not present to the trial court exactly what he is attempting to present here. Wherever he did so object his objection was sustained.
Appellant next claims that his newly-discovered evidence was a sufficient reason for a new trial. It is merely cumulative and is of a character that would not, probably, change the result. With this view of it, it is not our province to disturb the sound discretion of the trial court.
Appellant next complains of the court’s instruction No. 7, because it told the jury that intent “may be inferred from the evidence if there are any facts proven which satisfy the jury of the existence of such intent.” The objection to this language of the court being that it authorized an inference from an inference. The language is not open to this objection, and, if it were, the jury was clearly told by an instruction, which the court gave at the request of appellant, that the jurors should bear in mind that one inference or presumption cannot be based upon another inference or presumption.
Appellant claims error in other instructions, but all of his claims are of the character of those that we have heretofore indicated, and it will serve no good purpose to prolong this opinion by discussing them. We have fully examined the evidence and all the instructions of the court. We find the evidence quite conclusive of guilt, and find that the appellant’s rights were fully and fairly protected by the instructions given.
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.