Pederre v. State
Pederre v. State
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
This is an appeal from a conviction in the court below of the crime of unlawful retailing.
Appellant and Charlie Drummond, one of the witnesses for the state, are neighbors in the city of Hattiesburg, living only a short distance apart. H. E. Hammet, one of the witnesses for the state, was employed by .the city of Hattiesburg as a special detective to ferret out and report blind tigers. On the 26th day of September, 1910, Hammet approached Drummond at or near his (Drummond’s) residence, requested him to obtain for him a bottle of whiskey, and gave him the money to pay for it. It does not appear from the evidence where or from whom Hammet told Drummond to obtain the whiskey, and Hammet testifies that he does not know where Drummond obtained it, but that he went toward appellant’s house and returned with the whiskey. Drummond testi
The second instruction granted the state is as follows:
“The court instructs the jury, for the state, that they are not authorized under the law to disregard the testimony of a witness merely because he is employed as a detective; but they must give the testimony of such witness the same credence as that of any other witness, unless they believe from the testimony that such wtiness has knowingly and corruptly sworn falsely to a material fact in issue.” The weight to be given such evidence, which, of course, varies with the circumstances of each case and the credibility of witnesses, are matters peculiarly within the. province of the jury, and of which the jury should be permitted to judge, uninfluenced by the views of the court relative thereto. The giving of this instruction was, therefore, error.
jReversed and remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Rosa Pederre v. State
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Criminal Law. Or edibility of witnesses. Evidence. Instructions. Where one of the witnesses for the state was employed as a detective to report “blind tigers,” and testified that he was working for a salary and that the amount he was to receive did not depend upon the number of cases reported by him, but defendant proved that such witness had received one hundred dollars for nine cases of detective work, and offered to introduce an account filed by the witness with the board of aldermen, upon which said amount was allowed. It was error for the court to refuse to allow this account to be introduced as this might have materially affected his credibility with the jury. 2. Instructions. Weight of evidence. An instruction for the state is erroneous which tells the jury, “That they are not authorized under the law to disregard the testimony of the witness merely because he is employed as a detective, but they must give the testimony of such witness the same credence as that of any other witness, unless they believe from the testimony that such witness has knowingly and corruptly sworn falsely to a material fact in issue,” as being upon the weight of evidence and the credibility of witnesses, which are matters peculiarly within the province of the jury, whose judgment should not be influenced by the views of the court in relation thereto.