Ingram v. State
Ingram v. State
Opinion of the Court
Conviction for arson; punishment, two years in the penitentiary. This is the second appeal. See 47 S. W. (2d) 285.
Appellant’s wife had a house in Abilene, Texas, which was insured at the time it burned. Without setting out the facts at length, they seem conclusively to show that the house was set fire to. The only question of fact was, Who did it? Appellant made a written statement after being duly warned, and also as a witness in his own behalf swore to substantially the following
Among other things pointing to an incendiary fire, the fire marshal testified that upon the alarm at 2:15 a. m. Friday he went at once to the house. Aside from the fact that oil was on the floor and a kerosene odor in the southwest room, and paper was scattered here and there in said room, this witness said he found an alam clock in said room nailed to the floor with a burned piece of fishing line wound around the winder of said clock; also three triggers were not far away, around one of which was another burned fishing line corresponding in kind to that on the clock winder; also about fifteen inches from the clock was a lantern without a globe. The hands of the clock had stopped at 2:15.
Appellant admitted in his testimony that he and his wife had the clock mentioned at said house for use in telling them the time; also that they had the lantern there for furnishing light by which they could see to paper the house, and that when
Four exceptions were leveled at the court’s charge, one of which was based on the proposition that the court should not have allowed the state to ask appellant, while on the witness stand, if he did not know that under the law his wife could not testify against him, etc. We can not consider such exception in the absence of a bill of exception showing that in fact such question was asked and objected to. Another exception was to the giving of a charge on principals, the objection being that such charge was not applicable to the facts. We would not be inclined to agree with appellant on his contention that it was not applicable to the facts, but note that when the court came to apply the law to the facts he restricted the jury’s finding of guilt entirely to what appellant himself actually did and made no application of the law of principals. Such procedure seems novel and probably not commendable, but we are unable to see how possible injury could have resulted. We shall later revert to the facts bearing but the theory of principals..
If the charge as submitted to appellant for exception, did not contain an instruction that conviction could not be had even though they found that appellant and his wife had agreed to commit the offense before it was committed, if they further found that before its commission appellant abandoned the enterprise or conspiracy, all of which appears from another exception, then the exception was rendered unavailing because the charge was thereafter amended and this proposition written in, as same appears in the charge in the record.
We find no such blending of the charge on circumstantial evidence with that on principals as could mislead the jury or operate to appellant’s injury.
Going back, some one set fire to this building which belonged to appellant’s wife, and was insured in her behalf for some nine hundred dollars over the amount of the encumbrance. Whoever did the work had a carefully prepared and thought-out program, whose execution called for preparation, planning and testing of the apparatus, as well as the use of the alarm clock and some fire carrying vessel which would burn after the designer was safe and away. According to appellant’s testimony he and his wife took the clock and the globeless lantern
Being unable to agree with appellant, and finding no reversible error in the record, the judgment will be affirmed.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.