State v. Frazier
State v. Frazier
Opinion of the Court
The defendant was charged with selling intoxicating liquor in five counts and was acquitted thereof.
In the sixth count he was charged with maintaining a place where intoxicating liquors were unlawfully kept for sale. On this count he was. found guilty and now appeals.
The defendant contends the evidence is insufficient, to identify the place where the acts testified to transpired with the place as charged, and that there was an entire failure of evidence in this respect. We sustain this contention. (See The State v. Sterns, 28 Kan. 154; The State v. Walters, 57 Kan. 702, 47 Pac. 839.)
Several material errors were also made in admitting-evidence over the objections of the defendant, of which it is necessary to mention only one. Joe Klueber testified to obtaining a bottle of whisky from a man called “Bright-eyes,” as follows:
“He asked me if I wanted any whisky and I told him-yes, and he went and brought me the whisky; he went around that corner there. I next saw him in front of' this place.
“Ques. Did you see him come out of Frazier’s place?' Ans. I saw him coming around the corner, I thought out of the door, but I might be mistaken.
“!Q. You thought he¡ came out of Frazier’s restaurant? A. Yes, sir. He came to where I was and handed me the bottle and I gave him a dollar. I called it ‘rot-gut’; I would n’t call it whisky. It did n’t taste-much like whisky, it tasted like rot-gut. I thought it; was not whisky.”
“Ques. He didn’t go into Frazier’s place, did he? Ans. No, sir, he did n’t go in there.”
At the close of the evidence for the state the defendant moved the court to discharge him. Also, after the rendition of the verdict of guilty the defendant filed a motion for a new trial upon all of the statutory grounds. This motion was also overruled. In the ruling upon each of these motions we think the court erred. Errors were also made in striking out evidence introduced by the defendant and excluding the evidence ■ of Etta Houchens, offered on the defense. The defendant does not appear to have had a fair trial.
The judgment is reversed and the case is remanded' for a new trial.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.