Washington v. State
Washington v. State
Opinion of the Court
Appellant has appealed from a conviction for rape. He was indicted and tried for committing rape upon one Maggie Jones, a female under the age of fifteen years, and his trial resulted in a conviction with a penalty of six years in the penitentiary.
1. In the trial of the case the appellant presented to the court a bill of exceptions, which is set out in the record and to which is attached the affidavit of W. H. Hanson as to the same being correct. This bill of exceptions is substantially as follows: On the trial of the above cause while the witness Maggie Jones was upon the witness stand she had testified in chief that the appellant, while she was on her way home, and at night, had carnal intercourse with her. On cross-examination she testified that she had not had carnal intercourse with one Ben Edmonds, who was then living with her parents, and upon redirect examination the State’s attorney asked her the following question: “Did the defendant, Will Washington, ever have carnal intercourse with you at any other time than the one in the latter part of August, 1908?” To this question the defendant objected on the ground that it was irrelevant, immaterial; that it was a separate and distinct transaction from the one for which he is being tried and that to allow the witness to answer same would be to prejudice and inflame the minds of the jury against the appellant. The court overruled this objection and permitted the witness to answer: “He had carnal intercourse with me on .three other occasions.” The court disallowed this bill and we find in the record a bill of exceptions prepared by the judge and filed by him which is substantially as follows: That the prosecutrix, Maggie Jones, had testified upon direct examination that appellant had had carnal intercourse with her in" the latter part of August, 1908, while on his way from appellant’s to her father’s house, and that this intercourse was had with her while standing and that she had a child born to her in March thereafter. In the cross-examination of the witness by appellant she was asked if one Ben Edmonds, a negro living with her father, had had intercourse with her, and then appellant asked the following question: “You say that nobody ever had anything to do with you before that?” referring to the occasion in the latter part of August, 1908, testified to by her. To this question the witness answered: “Ho, sir,” and then when the district attorney took said witness on redirect examination he asked: “Maggie, Mr. Hanson asked you whether anyone had ever had anything to do with, you before that night. What was your answer to that?” The appellant objected to this question on the ground that the question was
2. The charge of the learned trial judge was ample, full and complete. The special charges requested by appellant were practically embodied in the main charge of the court. The court was very careful to safeguard, in his charge, all the rights of the appellant. The court specially directed the jury that they would have to find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did, during the. month of August, when the prosecuting witness was going from defendant’s house to her father’s, have carnal intercourse of the said Maggie Jones by actual penetration, and that they must find beyond a reasonable doubt that she was under the age of fifteen years and was not his wife; and further the court directed the jury that the defendant was being tried alone for this specific act which took place in going from defendant’s house to her father’s house at night in August; and further specially directed the jury that though they might find that there were other acts of carnal intercourse by defendant that they could not convict defendant for such other acts, though they might believe such testimony to be true and they were warned and instructed not to consider, mention or discuss such evidence, if any, that they found had been introduced of other acts of carnal intercourse in determining the punishment that they would assess against the defendant. Hence, we are of opinion the court’s charge was ample, full and complete. The first special charge requested by the app.ellant was to the effect that unless the jury found that Maggie Jones was under the age of fifteen years, beyond a reasonable doubt, they would acquit. The court had already submitted the question of age to the jury and had told them that they must find prosecutrix was under the age of fifteen years, beyond a reasonable doubt. Appellant’s second special charge requested was that they should not consider for any purpose the first three acts of sexual intercourse, and that they must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed said last act or they must acquit the defendant. The court in his charge had limited the jury to a consideration of the testimony of the last act which occurred at night going from the home of appellant to prosecutrix’ home, and that they must find that appellant committed the act on that night or they would acquit. We are constrained to hold that appellant has had a fair and impartial trial; that there were no errors committed in the trial court 'of such a character as could have prejudiced the rights of appellant; and the judgment of the court below ■ is in all things affirmed.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.