Buchanan v. State

298 S.W. 569
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 5, 1927
DocketNo. 10928
StatusPublished
Cited by70 cases

This text of 298 S.W. 569 (Buchanan 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
Buchanan v. State, 298 S.W. 569 (Tex. 1927).

Opinion

CHRISTIAN, J.

The offense is possession of intoxicating liquor for the purpose of sale; the punishment, confinement in the penitentiary for one year.

By bill of exception No. 1, appellant complains of the action of 'the trial court in overruling his motion to quash the jury panel. Appellant asserts that two of the juyy commissioners lived in the town of Panhandle, and further that the sheriff selected the jury commissioners and that his selection was adopted by the judge. The court heard evidence on the motion. It was shown by the testimony that one of the jury commissioners lived on Third street in the town of Panhandle, about two blocks south and four blocks east of the courthouse, that another commissioner lived in the town of Panhandle, three blocks north and one block west of the' courthouse, and that the third commissioner lived in the town of White Deer, in Carson county. The testimony of the sheriff is uncontradicted to the effect that the district judge selected the three jury commissioners and' ordered him to summon them. The one question therefore presented by the bill is: ‘.‘Was the jury commission disqualified because two of its members lived in the town of Panhandle?” Article 333, C. C. P., requires that the jury commissioners be residents of different portions of the county. No-arbitrary disregard of this statute is disclosed by the bill. While two of the commissioners lived in different parts of the town of Panhandle, the third commissioner came from the town of White Deer. In the case of Williams v. State, 45 Tex. Cr. R. 218, 75 S. W. 859, this court sustained the action of the trial court in overruling a motion to quash the jury panel on the ground that the jury commissioners who selected the jury all resided in the city of Houston. The court said:

“The mere fact that the jury commissioners all reside within the city of Houston, which contains two-thirds of the qualified voters of the county, would not render them disqualified to act as jury commissioners, having other qualifications. The statute does not say how far the commissioners shall live from each other, but merely that they shall reside in different portions of the county.”

Following the case of Williams v. State, supra, we are constrained to sustain the action of the trial court in overruling appellant’s motion.

By bill of exception No. 2, appellant complains of the action of the trial court in overruling his motion to" quash the affidavit and search warrant under which the search was made, on the ground that these instruments did not comply with the law for vari-[571]*571«us reasons recited in the motion. The court properly overruled the motion. This procedure is not sanctioned by the rule prevailing in this state. Foster v. State, 104 Tex. Cr. R. 121, 282 S. W. 600; Raymond v. State, 106 Tex. Cr. R. 147, 291 S. W. 251.

By bill of exception No. 3, appellant asserts that the court committed error in permitting Allen Johnson, deputy sheriff, to testify concerning the result of the search of appellant’s car. The objection to the testimony was based on the ground that the affidavit was made upon information and belief, that it stated no facts showing probable ■cause, and that it failed to describe the car with accuracy. The affidavit and search warrant were not set out in the bill, nor is the substance of either instrument given.. The legal presumption is that the ruling of the trial court was correct, unless the bill of exceptions shows otherwise. See Branch’s Annotated Penal Code, § 207, p. 132. The bill under consideration does not comply with the rule that a bill of exception should be made so full and certain in its statements as that, in and of itself, it will disclose all that is necessary to manifest the supposed error. Branch’s Annotated Penal Code, § 207, p. 131.

Bill of exception No. 4 preserves an objection to the testimony of the officer that’ appellant told him at the time he searched the car that he had the whisky. As shown by the bill, appellant’s objection was based on the ground that he was under arrest and that the testimony was an attempt to offer in evidence his declarations without complying with the statute governing confessions, and, further, that the testimony could not be considered a part of the res gestas, since the evidence showed that the declarations were made some twenty or thirty minutes after appellant was taken into custody. No evidence is incorporated in the bill that would verify the truth of appellant’s objections. The statement contained in the bill, that the testimony eould not be considered as a part of the res gestas because it happened twenty or twenty-five minutes after appellant was arrested, constitutes a mere statement of a ground of objection. A mere statement of a ground of objection in a bill of exception is not a certificate of the judge that the facts which form the basis of the objection are true; it merely shows that such an objection was made. See Branch’s Annotated Penal Code, § 209, p. 134; Edelen v. State, 103 Tex. Cr. R. 562, 281 S. W. 1078. The bill not being sufficient .to enable us to determine whether the trial court committed error in admitting the testimony, we must presume that the court’s ruling was correct.

By bill of exception No. 5, appellánt complains of the action of the trial court in admitting the testimony of the officer touching declarations made to him by appellant. This bill is in the same attitude as bill No. 4, and we must presume that the ruling of the court was correct.

Appellant asserts by bill of exception No. 6 that he took the witness stand for the sole purpose of giving testimony on his application for a suspended sentence, and assigned as error the action of the court in requiring him under cross-examination by the district attorney to testify to matters not covered by the examination in chief. The court’s ruling was correct. The rule at common law, which confines the cross-examination of a witness to questions propounded on examination in chief, does not obtain in Texas. Branch’s Annotated Penal Code, § 147, p. 84, and authorities cited. When the defendant takes the witness stand, he is subject to the same rules as any other witness. Branch’s Annotated Penal Code, § 147, p. 83, and authorities cited.

It is unnecessary to discuss bill of exception No. 7, further than to say that our discussion of bill No. 4 is applicable to this bill.

Bill of exception No. 8 preserves appellant’s objections to the court’s charge. Numerous objections are shown in the bill, but we deem it unnecessary to consider but one; that is, the failure of the court to instruct the jury on the law of circumstantial evidence. The facts are these: Officers were making a search of a negro’s house in the town ,of Panhandle about 10:30 o’clock at night when appellant drove up in his car and stopped beside the house near a door. One of the officers ran to the ear; whereupon appellant started the car, and the officer jumped on the running board and ordered him to stop, which he did. The officer asked appellant what he had in the ear, and appellant replied by asking the officer if he had a search warrant and stated to the officer that it would take a search warrant to see what was in the car. One of the officers then got into the car with appellant and drove to the courthouse, while the other officer followed them. A search warrant was secured.

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Bluebook (online)
298 S.W. 569, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/buchanan-v-state-texcrimapp-1927.