Bloom v. State

146 N.W. 965, 95 Neb. 710, 1914 Neb. LEXIS 277
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedApril 3, 1914
DocketNo. 18,296
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 146 N.W. 965 (Bloom v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bloom v. State, 146 N.W. 965, 95 Neb. 710, 1914 Neb. LEXIS 277 (Neb. 1914).

Opinions

Letton, J.

Plaintiff in error was convicted upon the charge of buying stolen property, knowing that the property was stolen. He brings the case here for review.

The first contention made is that there is not sufficient evidence to sustain the verdict. It is impossible, within the proper limits of this opinion to set forth.all the evidence. Plaintiff in error, hereafter called the defendant, had a small shop or store in Falls City for the sale of clothing, notions, etc.

The testimony in behalf of the state is to the effect that the goods, consisting of a large number of overalls, a number of boxes of cigars and some tobacco, were stolen from freight cars of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company standing in the railroad yards at Falls City, and that the thieves, Norman and Merle Bonner, sold them to the defendant on or about Sunday, July 21,1912; that Norman Bonner told him at the time that the property was stolen; that the marks or tags were afterwards removed from a number of the overalls and were intermingled by Bloom with other overalls on the shelves; and that, when the officers asked for the goods he got from the Bonners, Bloom showed them where the overalls were, and went into a ba,ck room and brought them a valise filled with the stolen cigars.

The testimony for the defense is that the goods were left in the store by Norman Bonner to be called for; that Bloom was in the country when they were left, Mrs. Bloom being in charge, of the store and giving him permission to leave them; that the goods were not intermingled, but the bundle of overalls brought by Bonner was placed on a shelf by itself, covered with a black cloth; that none of them were sold by the Blooms, and no money was ever paid for them. [712]*712Several witnesses testify Bloom was at a farm five miles from Palls City on Sunday, July 21, 1912. Part of the testimony of the Blooms is so strongly impeached by other credible witnesses that it tends to weaken their whole story, and this probably ha'd its effect with the jury.

While there is a direct conflict in the testimony, we think it was ample to support the verdict, if the jury believed the witnesses for the state.

It is next assigned that the sheriff was disqualified to select talesmen on account of his bias and prejudice against the defendant. It is shown that all that the sheriff had to do with the selection of the jury was to call five talesmen to fill the panel at the beginning of the term of court at which the trial was had. There is no showing that any of these talesmen were jurors, and no showing of any misconduct on the part of the officer. •

Misconduct of counsel is next complained of. One Whitaker, a witness for defendant, was called to testify to the reputation and character of defendant. ' After testifying that he considered his reputation good for honesty and morality, he was asked by counsel for the state: “Don’t you know the city wouldn’t let him run a pawnshop down there?” This was objected to, and the objection sustained. He was also asked whether he had heard of the trouble that Bloom had had with a machinist about a ring. This was also objected to, and the objection sustained. The nature of the questions them selves was not out of the ordinary; no attempt was made to carry on this line of questioning after the court sustained the objections; and we find no prejudice to defendant in- this matter.

The fourth assignment is that the court erred in not granting plaintiff a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence. The affidavit of one Y. D. Kelso is to the effect that on a Sunday in July, 1912, when he went to deliver ice to Mrs. Bloom, he met Norman Bonner in Bloom’s store; that at that time there were one or"two bundles lying on the floor in the room; and that Bloom was not there. At the trial Norman Bonner testified that Kelso was. an iceman and lived in Palls City, and that he was in the room [713]*713at one time when Bloom paid him money for the goods. We see no reason why a subpoena could not have been issued for Kelso at any time after Bonner testified. A party cannot, with knowledge of the existence of a witness within reach of a subpoena, refrain from calling him, and then, after a trial has been had resulting in an adverse verdict, procure a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence. The affidavit of one Foster is also filed to the effect that one day in July he picked up- a pair of overalls from a bunch on the shelf, and that he asked Mr. Bloom the price; that defendant replied they were not his overalls, at the same time calling Foster’s attention to overalls on another shelf, which he stated were his, and which he would sell, arid saying, referring to this pile of overalls and a grip, that they had been “'left there by a fellow last.Sunday,” and the “fellow hadn’t come after them yet.” This affidavit is inconsistent with the testimony of both Mr. and Mrs. Bloom, since, according to their testimony, the stolen overalls were covered with a black cloth as soon as placed upon the shelf and during the time they were in the store. Furthermore, this conversation is said to have occurred several months before the trial. Bloom says he had forgotten the man with whom he spoke; but there is no showing that he made any effort to find this man before the trial. Foster was a resident of Falls City, and it would seem that soon after the trial was had his affidavit was obtained. We think due diligence in the endeavor to procure the testimony of these witnesses before the trial has not been shown, and doubt that, if received, it would affect the result.

It is next complained -that, because the name of Merle Bonner was upon the information, he should have been called to the stand by the state, and that failure to do so is reversible error. There is no statutory requirement in this state that makes it incumbent upon the state to call witnesses whose names are indorsed upon an information. Furthermore the record discloses that Merle Bonner is deficient in mentality, and that, if he had been called by the prosecution the defense might have had a good reason [714]*714to complain of the action of the state in attempting to nse the testimony of such a Avitness in order to convict the defendant. He Avas called as a witness by the defendant, bnt his testimony is so incoherent and inconsistent Avith itself in several respects as to demonstrate the inadvisability of bis being called as a witness, either by the state or the defendant.

What is said in this connection applies to the complaint that, since Merle Bonner was a hostile witness, the court erred in refusing to permit the defendant to impeach him by showing that he had made statements at the preliminary, trial inconsistent with his present testimony. Moreover, the Avitness was permitted to testify to several statements he had made at the preliminary, and questions asked, to which objections were sustained, did not tend to impeach.

Complaint is made of instructions Nos. 1 and 2 that they omitted to state the issue as to whether the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company whs a corporation, and the issue of an alibi. Instruction No. 1 merely states the allegations of the information. Instruction No. 2 informs the jury of defendant’s plea of not guilty, and gives the law as to the presumption of innocence and the duty of the state to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. There is no error in this instruction.

Instruction No. 2 is also complained of for the same reasons.

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Bluebook (online)
146 N.W. 965, 95 Neb. 710, 1914 Neb. LEXIS 277, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bloom-v-state-neb-1914.