Catching v. State

364 S.W.2d 691, 1962 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 851
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 23, 1962
Docket34968
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 364 S.W.2d 691 (Catching 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
Catching v. State, 364 S.W.2d 691, 1962 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 851 (Tex. 1962).

Opinions

WOODLEY, Presiding Judge.

The offense is abortion; the punishment, 3 years.

The indictment alleged that appellant and Thomas Albert Forehand, acting together, did unlawfully, wilfully and designedly, with her consent “thrust and force into the womb and private parts” of prosecutrix, a pregnant woman, “an instrument calculated to produce abortion, and did then and there destroy the: life of the fetus or -embryo in the womb of the said (prosecutrix).’’

Appellant’s grounds for reversal will be considered in the order in which they are presented in his brief.

He first complains of the overruling of his motion to quash the indictment based upon the omission of a description of the instrument alleged to have been “thrust and forced” into the womb of the prosecutrix.

Our attention is directed to the case of Mayberry v. State, 160 Tex.Cr.R. 432, 271 S.W.2d 635, wherein the same contention was raised and we said: “It would have been the better practice, here, for the state to describe the instrument used, if known, and if not known, to so allege.”

The indictment against Mayberry further alleged in the conjunctive that the abortion was performed by administering a drug and medicine. We followed the cases of Reum v. State, 49 Tex.Cr.R. 125, 90 S.W. 1109; Watson v. State, 9 Tex.App. 237; and Cave v. State, 33 Tex.Cr.R. 335, 26 S.W. 503, and held that a further description of the drugs or medicine was not necessary.

The indictment herein was drawn under that portion of the abortion statute (Art. 1191 P.C.) which provides that any person who knowingly shall use toward a pregnant woman “any violence or means whatever externally or internally applied, and thereby procure an abortion” shall be punished. The indictment herein is sufficient to charge such offense without further description of the instrument used.

Our conclusion is consistent with, if not required by, our holding that an indictment for procuring an abortion by administering any drug or medicine need not further describe such medicine or drug.

Our statement in Mayberry v. State, that it would be the better practice to describe the instrument used, would be equally applicable, we think, to the drug or medicine used. Mayberry v. State, supra, is not therefore authority for appellant’s position.

[693]*693Rupe v. State, 41 Tex. 33, cited by appellant, was not an abortion case but a prosecution under what is now Art. 1195, P.C., for destroying the life of an unborn child which would otherwise have been born .alive. The indictment held insufficient merely alleged the words of that statute.

Appellant’s second claim of reversible error relates to the refusal of the trial court to allow the appellant to prove before the jury, or for his bill of exception, the name of the man with whom the prosecutrix had had sexual intercourse and the number of times. We see no error but commend the trial court in his ruling upon these irrelevant facts.

We see no error in the ruling of the court concerning the questions addressed to prosecutrix as to why she appeared as a witness in the case. There was no intimation that the witness had testified falsely or that she had any bias or prejudice against accused. In the absence of the jury in perfecting his bill, appellant was unable to establish that prosecutrix was testifying because of threats to prosecute her if she did not do so. Having failed to establish the truth of the assertions contained in such questions, the holding in Ogburn v. State, 101 Tex.Cr.R. 180, 274 S.W. 638, relied upon by appellant, can have no application here.

Appellant’s next complaint relates to the overruling of his motion to discharge the jury panel because of the court’s reference to “the other case against this man.”

Appellant relies upon his motion incorporated at the beginning of the Statement of Facts, with the trial court’s ruling and his exception thereto.

Assuming that the question is before us under the provisions of Art. 760e, Vernon’s Ann.C.C.P., and that no evidence was adduced in support of the motion to quash the jury panel, appellant is bound by the court’s statement in overruling the motion, that he • did not believe that any juror on the panel heard the remark, and felt certain that none of them would have known what was meant by the remark if they did hear it. No error in the overruling of appellant’s motion to quash the jury panel is shown.

Appellant’s remaining claim of error relates to the admission of certain evidence and requires a statement of the facts proved.

Prosecutrix, a thirty-year old widow and the mother of three children, testified that she became pregnant, and, after realizing her condition, spoke to one Thomas Forehand and accompanied him and a woman named Martin from La Marque to a place in Galveston. Forehand parked his automobile and, after receiving $50 from her, went upstairs; in a short while he returned and accompanied her to appellant’s apartment. Appellant took her into a room where he inserted a rubber tube into her vagina and told her to allow it to remain there for three days or until she had to go to a doctor. When she came back downstairs she rejoined Forehand and the Martin woman; that the latter left, was gore for a while and returned, after which they drove back to La Marque. The first effort to bring about an abortion was not successful, and she again went to Galveston with Forehand, where appellant re-inserted the rubber tube. Several days later, while staying at Forehand’s apartment, she expelled the fetus into the commode.

Appellant made a written statement which was offered in evidence as his voluntary confession. Over objection, the following portion of such statement or confession was admitted.

“Sometime during the end of January, 1961, Tom called me and said he wanted to talk to me. I told him to come and see me. Several days later he came into my store at 1327 Ave. B in Galveston, Texas. I was in the store along with the boy who works for me. Tommie told me he had a girl that had gotten pregnant and was not married. He wanted me to perform an abor[694]*694tion on her. He ask_ me how much I would charge and I told him $45.00. He then left. About a day later Tommie called me and told me the girl he had talked to me about had changed her mind, but he said he had another girl who he wanted me to perform an abortion on. I told him to bring the girl over to see me and we would talk it out together. About the first part of February, 1961, Tommie came to my house. It was at night. He came upstairs by himself. He told me he had both girls downstairs and he would give me $50.00 for the abortion on one, and the other girl would give me $50.00 for the abortion on her. We talked it over, and I agreed. He gave me $50. Tommie went downstairs, and then a tall, black-haired girl came up, and I took her into a bedroom, which is the first room to the right at the top of the stairs. I had her lay down in the bed and remove her panties. I then inserted a catheter into her womb. She got up, put on her panties and then left.

“ — Tommie came back upstairs with a little blonde woman. He gave me $50.00 and then left. I took this woman into the bedroom and she removed her panties. I then had her lay down in the bed, and I inserted a catheter into her womb. It took me about twenty minutes for me to insert it. She then left. About four days later the black-haired woman came back to see me.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Perkins v. State
887 S.W.2d 222 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
State v. Sandoval
842 S.W.2d 782 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Burnett v. State
754 S.W.2d 437 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1988)
State v. Reynolds
560 S.W.2d 313 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1977)
Denney v. State
558 S.W.2d 467 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1977)
Arnott v. State
498 S.W.2d 166 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Helms v. State
493 S.W.2d 227 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Catching v. State
364 S.W.2d 691 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1962)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
364 S.W.2d 691, 1962 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 851, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/catching-v-state-texcrimapp-1962.