Bennett v. Commonwealth
Bennett v. Commonwealth
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
This writ of error is to a verdict and judgment sentencing Stephen Bennett, the accused, to the penitentiary for ten years, for malieipus shooting with intent to kill.
The accused assigns as error the court’s refusal to quash the writ of venire facias, the list accompanying said writ and the sheriff’s return thereon.
The question raised by this assignment of error is fully discussed and considered in an opinion handed down today in the case of R. W. Lee v. Commonwealth, post p. 572, 115 S. E. 671, and for the reasons therein stated we must hold that it was not error for the clerk of the court to draw the venire in the presence of two reputable citizens, it appearing that the judge of the circuit court, by inadvertence, had failed to designate a commissioner in chancery whom the statute required the clerk to notify that his attendance at the drawing of the venire was desired, before he was authorized to conduct the drawing in the presence of two reputable citizens.
The remaining assignment of error is to the action of the court in overruling the motion to set aside the verdict on the ground that it is contrary to the law and the evidence.
It is admitted that the prosecutrix, Rosetta Combs, on March 9, 1921, was shot on the left side of her abdomen while in the woods about seventy-five or 100 yards from her home getting wood. The theory of the Commonwealth is that she was shot by the accused, while the
While testifying as a witness in the case she admitted making the statements above set forth, to the parties aforesaid, but testified that she was in the woods getting wood and the accused came up to her and asked her “an unfair question,” and she told him “No,” and he said, “If you don’t I will shoot you,” and she told him she was going to tell her husband, and he said “You will not,” and shot her in the left side of her stomach. She admitted further that she never charged the accused with the shooting until some time after she was taken to the hospital, and did not mention his name to her husband until she was about well.
James Dubrie, a witness for the defense, corroborated the testimony of the accused as to where he was on the day the shooting occurred.
While the testimony relied on by the Commonwealth is not only contradicted by the evidence introduced on behalf of the accused, but also by statements made by the prosecuting witness, Bettie Combs, prior to the trial, yet the credibility of the witnesses and the conflicts in the testimony were questions for the jury, and their findings are conclusive upon this court.
For the foregoing reasons the judgment will be affirmed.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Stephen Bennett v. Commonwealth
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