McGee v. State
McGee v. State
Opinion of the Court
McGee, the appellant, was convicted of the murder of William “Fats” Harvey, Sr., and sentenced to the state penitentiary for life.
On this appeal he urges only one ground for reversal and that is that the district attorney in his final argument to. the jury stated that appellant testified that he, appellant, learned of the bad reputation of the deceased from a policeman whom appellant saw at a “ Cat House ’ ’, and that he, the district attorney, would not try to describe a “Cat House” since ladies were present in the courtroom and he was satisfied the jurors knew what a “Cat House” was. Appellant objected to this argument of the district attorney but it does not appear that the learned trial judge ruled thereon. Appellant had placed his own reputation in issue and had also attacked the reputation of the deceased. Appellant was on the stand under cross-examination by the district attorney. The notes of the reporter before us reveal these questions by the district attorney and answers by appellant:
Q. “You say he had a bad name with the police. That’s what you said, didn’t you?”
A. “I said the police arrested him and they said he did, when they came out to arrest him.”
Q. “Well, what policeman was that told you he had a bad name ? ’ ’
A. “They didn’t tell me. They came to the ‘Chat House’ and arrested him.”
Q. “Oh, they never told you anything?”
A. ‘ ‘ They were talking to a bunch of all of us there. ’ ’ Q. ‘ ‘ What policeman was that? ’ ’
A. “It was a sheriff.’’
Q. “ What sheriff was that ? ”
A. “Mr. — ah, I know his name. It has been a long time, but I know his name. It was in ’35 or ‘ 36, Mr. Gus Galloway.”
Affirmed.
Reference
- Status
- Published