Ray v. State
Ray v. State
Opinion of the Court
Appellant in this case was indicted for the murder of Alfred H. Bledsoe. The murder is alleged to have been committed August 1, A. D. 1877. At the February term, A. D. 1878, of the District Court of Delta County the cause came on for hearing, and, on the seventh day thereof, resulted in the conviction of defendant of murder in the second degree, with his punishment affixed at imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of ten years.
The number of bills of exception saved and errors assigned show the great care and diligence exercised by coun
1. The objection to the manner in which the special venire was drawn does not show the facts, by bill of exception or otherwise, until raised for the first time on the motion for a new trial, and the objection, as there stated, is not supported by evidence in the record. Objections to the mode and manner of drawing and impaneling the jury should be made by challenge to the array, or challenge to the particular juror, as prescribed by the Code of Criminal Procedure. Pasc. Dig., arts. 3031-3040. Such challenges should be made at the time the jury are being impaneled, and are not available, except in certain exceptional cases going to the qualifications of the particular juror, on a motion for a new trial. With regard to the ruling of the court in requiring the defense to pass upon the jurors severally, the correctness of the ruling and practice is made evident by reference to the following authorities: Horbach v. The State, 43 Texas, 242; Taylor v. The State, 3 Texas Ct. App. 169, and Hardin v. The State, decided at the present term, ante, p. 355.
The third and fourth errors complained of, with reference to the action of the court in connection with the jury, may be stated concisely as follows: Shortly after the jury was accepted and impaneled, but before any evidence was introduced on either side, the attention of the court was called to the fact that one of the jurors had been taken sick. De
In this instance no rule of law was infringed ; on the contrary, it is provided, both in our Constitution and statute laws, that a verdict in certain contingencies (of which one is here presented) may be rendered by less than the whole number of the jury. The constitutional provision reads:
“ Grand and petit juries in the District Courts shall be composed of twelve men. * * * When, pending the trial of any case, one or more jurors, not exceeding three, may die or be disabled from sitting, the remainder of the jury shall have the power to render the verdict; provided that the Legislature may change or modify the rule authorizing less than the whole number of the jury to render a verdict.” Const., art. 5, sec. 13.
In conformity with the authority here conferred, the Legislature, at its next session thereafter, did provide that “ no verdict shall be rendered in any case in the District Court whereby the rights of any citizen shall be affected, except
The main errors complained of with regard to the rejection of testimony, shown by the several bills of exception, relate to proposed evidence of acts and declarations of defendant after the homicide. The State did not put in evidence any part of his declarations made to the defendant’s witness Stell, and, therefore, he was not entitled to the conversation had with that witness about the homicide the evening of the day it was committed. A party cannot, in this manner, manufacture evidence in his behalf. Harmon v. The State, 3 Texas Ct. App. 51. Nor did the State attempt to prove the flight of defendant as tending to establish his guilt; and the evidence sought to be introduced by him to show where he had gone, and what his intentions were in going, were clearly irrelevant and incompetent. 1 Whart. Cr. Law, sec. 714; The People v. Rathburn, 21 Wend. 509; Campbell v. The State, 23 Ala. 28.
By bill of exceptions No. 12 it was urged that the court erred in permitting the written testimony of a witness, taken before the examining court, to be read to the jury — the witness having died since giving the evidence. This was not error. Johnson v. The State, 1 Texas Ct. App. 333.
With regard to the evidence, whilst it is entirely circumstantial, and in. some respects contradictory, we are forced to the conclusion, from a most careful study of it as we find it in the statement of facts in this record, that the jury did not err in finding the defendant guilty. If there are any extenuating or mitigating circumstances, they have not been shown.
We believe the defendant has had a fair and impartial trial, and see nothing to warrant us in interfering with the judgment. It is, therefore, affirmed.
Affirmed.
Reference
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- James C. Ray v. State
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- 1. Organization of Petit Jury. — Objections to the mode of drawing and ' impaneling a jury should be made by challenge to the array, or to the particular juror, and at the time the jury are being impaneled. Such objections are not available by motion for new trial, except in certain exceptional cases affecting the qualifications of a particular juror. 2. Same — Special Venire. — The rulings in Hardin v. The State, ante, p. 355, and in Taylor v. The State, 3 Texas Ct. App. 169, approved, to the effect that in impaneling a jury from a special venire each juror is to be passed upon as he is presented. 3. Same—Practice in this Court. — The rulings of the court below in organizing a petit jury need not be revised here unless they infringed the jury law or prejudiced the accused. 4. Trial and Verdict by less than Twelve Jurors. — Under the Constitution and laws of this state, if, pending a trial, one or more jurors, not exceeding three, die, or be disabled from sitting, the remaining jurors may render the verdict; but each of them must sign the verdict so rendered. Whether a juror should be discharged on account of his sickness is a question for the sound discretion of the court below, and not revisable here when no abuse of that discretion is apparent. 5. Same — Case Stated. — The jury in a murder case having been impaneled, but no evidence adduced, one of the jurors was taken sick, and the defense proposed that he be discharged and another selected; but, a physician being consulted, and the juror concluding he could remain, the trial proceeded. After several witnesses were examined, the juror became worse, and was discharged by the court; and thereupon the accused moved that the whole jury be discharged, and objected to being tried by the eleven remaining jurors. Held, not error to overrule the motion and proceed with the trial before the remaining jurors. 6’. Evidence. — In a trial for murder, the accused proposed to prove his own movements and declarations several hours after the homicide, none of which had been -elicited by the prosecution. Held, that such proof was incompetent and properly excluded. 7. Deceased Witness.—It is competent for the prosecution-to read in evidence the deposition of a deceased witness, duly taken at a previous trial of the accused by an examining court. Johnson v. The State, 1 Texas Ct. App: -333, cited on this point and approved. .