Baker v. State
Baker v. State
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
It was error to allow prosecutrix to be asked as to her relations with other men. The only possible purpose of it was to bolster up her general reputation as to chastity, when that was not in issue at any time during the trial. The defendant did not assail it. That is settled in the two following cases:
We remark, lastly, that this is a case calling for the closest scrutiny of the testimony, by reason of the long delay. It is almost incredible that prosecutrix could not have made complaint against appellant, without fear, during the last three or four years at least. She was over twenty years of age, and it is very hard to believe that she was still under the terror of treatment inflicted while she was of tender years. There are other circumstances in her testimony far from satisfactory; such as not complaining while she was hired out, when she would have been fully protected. But we do not care to comment on the testimony at large beyond remarking that, stripped of the incompetent testimony, it is a very unsatisfactory case.
Reversed and remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- John Baker v. State of Mississippi
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Criminal Law. Rape. Evidence. Reputation for chastity. In a prosecution for rape it is error to permit the state to show: (а) That prosecutrix was a chaste woman, her general reputation in that regard not having been assailed by defendant; (б) That defendant ill treated members of his household, where such evidence does not tend to explain delay in the prosecution ; (e) That a witness not called by the defense had been told by defendant that she would have to swear lies to help him out; and (d) That witness had heard noises indicating distress at defendant’s house, they not knowing what made the noises or why they were made. 2. Same. Delay in prosecution. Long delay in presecuting for rape demands a close scrutiny of the testimony before conviction.