State v. Symowitz
State v. Symowitz
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff in error was convicted on an indictment for assault and battery with intent to kill, and brings this writ of error. Of the nine assignments- of error and eight causes for reversal (which are identical with the first eight assignments) only one appears to be relied on, i. e., the sixth, which is here reproduced entire.:
“6. The court in charging the jury erred, in that it charged the jury as follows:
“ ‘The state, as I say, produced not only the witness O’Con-nor, but it produced the witness Gleason, who testified, as they produced a third witness, Thomas Silvay. You heard that gentleman’s testimony on the stand. How did he impress you ? Do you think he told the truth, gentlemen of the jury? You will remember I cautioned you against receiving the evidence that had been drawn from him by the state in the first instance, and told you to disregard his testimony so far as it was brought out in his direct examination by Mr. Cutley, and I told you to regard only his testimony from
The case is submitted on briefs, and, as we read the brief for the plaintiff in error, complaint is made of this lengthy excerpt, or of parts thereof, in the following particulars:
1. Asking the jury whether they believed Silvay’s testimony, in such form as to give them the impression that the judge himself did not believe it; and later stating plainly his disbelief.
2. In discussing the testimony at all; the proposition apparently being that as the court had instructed the jury to disregard Silvay’s examination in chief, that of itself removed also from the case the cross and the redirect.
3. In reiterating the instruction given in the course of the trial, that the jury were to disregard said examination in chief.
Hence, there was no error in that respect, as the judge distinctly warned the jury not to let his belief take the place of theirs. We do not look further; this is enough to support the excerpt as against an omnibus attack in disregard of the rule invoked in State v. Spallone, supra.
The judgment will be affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.