Brown v. State

47 S.W.2d 290, 120 Tex. Crim. 95, 1932 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 173
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 20, 1932
DocketNo. 14497
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 47 S.W.2d 290 (Brown v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. State, 47 S.W.2d 290, 120 Tex. Crim. 95, 1932 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 173 (Tex. 1932).

Opinions

CALHOUN, Judge.

— Possession of intoxicating liquor for the purpose of sale is the offense; punishment assessed at one year in the penitentiary.

[97]*97The sheriff, Earl McWilliams, with other officers, under authority of a search warrant, searched the private residence of appellant and found three half-gallons of whisky in a side room of appellant’s house. When they drove up to the house for the purpose of searching it, the appellant and his wife were present in said house. They saw the appellant’s wife pour out some whisky from a half-gallon jar. They testified that they tasted and smelt the whisky that was in the three half-gallon jars and also smelt and tasted the whisky that they had seen the appellant’s wife pour out and it was whisky. They also found a five or eight gallon keg in the kitchen and this keg contained mash. They also found on the premises another ten gallon keg of mash about 60 feet from the house and found some mash on a creek back about one-fourth or one-half mile from said residence in the pasture of the appellant. They also found two stills, about one-half mile from appellant’s premises, one fully equipped and the other not fully equipped. There was no fence between the house and place where they found the still. Said still was close to a road that led to the house of the appellant.

Appellant did not deny the finding of said whisky at his house but testified that the whisky so found was purchased and used as a stimulant by his wife. He denied any knowledge or ownership of the stills found. His wife testified that she had been using said whisky for a stimulant at the direction of a doctor. A doctor testified that he had advised the wife of appellant to take stimulants; that he prescribed strychnine and bromide for her; that he was not qualified to prescribe whisky and did not remember that he recommended whisky for her.

Bill of exception No. 1 excepted to permitting the witnesses for the state to testify that they found in the kitchen of defendant’s residence a keg of mash to make home brew, upon the ground that it was irrelevant, prejudicial, and incompetent and involved an opinion and conclusion of the witness. The bill shows that the court instructed the jury not to consider the witness’ conclusion as to what the mash was for. As presented, no error is shown.

Bills of exception 2 and 4 complain of permitting the state to prove by the officers that they found a complete still and coils on the premises of the defendant, upon the ground that same called for an opinion and conclusion of the witness. We think the testimony of the finding of the material and apparatus used in manufacturing liquor was admissible to shed light on the question of the possession of the liquor as to whether appellant had the whisky, found in his house, for the purpose of sale. See Edwards v. State, 98 Texas Crim. Rep., 47, 262 S. W., 742; Grant v. State, 95 Texas Crim. Rep., 437, 254 S. W., 959; Dameron v. State, 97 Texas Crim. Rep., 172, 260 S. W., 855. The rule excluding evidence of other offenses does not embrace those relevant to the issue of [98]*98intent for which the appellant possesed the whisky. Ferguson v. State, 96 Texas Crim. Rep., 53, 255 S. W., 749.

Bill of exception No. 6 complains of the action of the trial court in permitting the district attorney to have the defendant testify that the reason his wife poured the whisky out was to keep Earl McWilliams, the sheriff, from getting it and she was afraid that the sheriff would carry the other medicine off and the reason his wife did not pour the rest of the whisky out was that she could not get to it; that she got to the one-half gallon and poured it out, but there was a gallon and a half she did not get to. The objection was made that it was an opinion and conclusion of the defendant and was forcing him to testify to reasons not disclosed by his wife. The qualification of the court to the bill shows that the defendant had testified, “We poured that out because Earl (the sheriff) ran through the house”. The record shows that the appellant also testified that his wife poured out her medicine to keep the sheriff from getting it because she was afraid he would carry the other medicine off. The facts further show that when the wife poured out the liquor it was done in the presence of the defendant. We think that the conduct of the appellant’s wife in pouring out the liquor was provable under the circumstances. Under the state’s evidence, appellant’s wife was shown to have been at least equally in possession of the whisky as the appellant. Under the authorities, it seems to be well settled, where the question at issue is a joint acting together of husband and wife in the commission óf an offense, proof of the acts and declarations of either is part of the res gestae and is admissible. This act on the part of the wife was clearly part of the res gestae. See Bannister v. State, 112 Texas Crim. Rep., 158, 13 S. W. (2d) 629; Smith v. State, 46 Texas Crim. Rep., 267, 81 S. W., 936.

Several bills of exception complain of certain cross-examination of character witnesses. The appellant placed his character in issue as to his general reputation for being a peaceable, law-abiding citizen and on cross-examination the witness was asked with reference to whether or not he had ever heard of the appellant being in trouble before. It seems that some of the questions were probably susceptible of the construction that the state was inquiring as to the reputation of the appellant after the alleged offense. In each and every instance, however, as shown by said bills, when the testimony was objected to, the court withdrew the same from the consideration^ of the jury and sustained the appellant’s objection. “When good character is proven, the opposite side may ask on cross-examination with reference to some specific instance which reflects unfavorably on the trait of character put in issue.” See Branch’s Annotated Penal Code, secs. 117, 184; Howard v. State, 37 Texas Crim. Rep., 498, 36 S. W., 475, 66 Am. St. Rep., 812; Forrester v. State, 38 Texas Crim. Rep., 245, 42 S. W., 400; Guerrero v. State, 41 Texas [99]*99Crim. Rep., 164, 53 S. W., 119; Young v. State, 41 Texas Crim. Rep., 445, 55 S. W., 331. We believe that the evidence that was permitted to go before the jury was admissible and the court did not err in so holding.

Bill of exception No. 8 complains of that part of the district attorney’s closing argument to the jury to the effect that “the defendant was out there in the whisky business and he was in the whisky business on a big scale. He had two gallons of whisky on hand and two, ten, or twelve gallon kegs of mash and a big still on the creek”. The objection made to the remarks was that it was attempting to wrongfully influence the jury and to wrongfully prejudice them without any evidence and was an unsworn statement of the district attorney. The bill further shows that the defendant’s counsel requested by a special charge the withdrawal of said remarks from the jury and to instruct them not to consider said remarks or any of them for any purpose, which was refused by the court. We are unable to agree with the appellant that the district attorney’s argument would warrant a reversal of this case, in the light of all the evidence.

The defendant excepted and objected to paragraph 2 of the court’s charge because the same shifts the burden of proof from the state to the defendant and places an undue burden upon the defendant in proving his innocence beyond a reasonable doubt, and because the court in said paragraph did not charge on the law of reasonable doubt.

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Related

Wilson v. State
434 S.W.2d 873 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1968)
Williard v. State
207 S.W.2d 886 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1948)

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Bluebook (online)
47 S.W.2d 290, 120 Tex. Crim. 95, 1932 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-state-texcrimapp-1932.