Guthrie v. State

Supreme Court of Arkansas

Guthrie v. State

70 S.W.2d 39, 188 Ark. 1081, 1934 Ark. LEXIS 337

CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas

DecidedMarch 12, 1934

DocketNo. CR 3876

StatusPublished

Cited by6 cases

This text of 70 S.W.2d 39 (Guthrie v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Guthrie v. State, 70 S.W.2d 39, 188 Ark. 1081, 1934 Ark. LEXIS 337 (Ark. 1934).

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Opinion

McHaney, J.

Appellant was convicted of murder in the second degree, and sentenced to twelve years in the penitentiary for the killing of Bryant Graves on October 1, 1933.

The only assignment of error relied upon for a reversal of the judgment is that a material witness for the State, "Willie Heriod, a negro boy 15 years of age, was disqualified by reason of his inability to appreciate the sanctity of an oath. After the witness had testified to facts very damaging to appellant, on cross-examination he testified that he didn’t know what it was to tell the truth, didn’t know what an oath was, nor what would happen to him if he testified falsely. The court overruled a motion to exclude his testimony from the jury. After a short recess of court, and after talking with the State’s attorney, the witness was again, examined, and stated that he did understand the nature of an oath.

We think the matter of his qualification as a witness rested in the sound discretion of the court. Payne v. State, 177 Ark. 413, 6 S. W. (2d) 832; Yother v. State, 167 Ark. 492, 268 S. W. 861; Sanders v. State, 175 Ark. 61, 296 S. W. 70; Durham v. State, 179 Ark. 508, 16 S. W. (2d) 991.

Affirmed.

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McHaney, J.

Appellant was convicted of murder in the second degree, and sentenced to twelve years in the penitentiary for the killing of Bryant Graves on October 1, 1933.

The only assignment of error relied upon for a reversal of the judgment is that a material witness for the State, "Willie Heriod, a negro boy 15 years of age, was disqualified by reason of his inability to appreciate the sanctity of an oath. After the witness had testified to facts very damaging to appellant, on cross-examination he testified that he didn’t know what it was to tell the truth, didn’t know what an oath was, nor what would happen to him if he testified falsely. The court overruled a motion to exclude his testimony from the jury. After a short recess of court, and after talking with the State’s attorney, the witness was again, examined, and stated that he did understand the nature of an oath.

We think the matter of his qualification as a witness rested in the sound discretion of the court. Payne v. State, 177 Ark. 413, 6 S. W. (2d) 832; Yother v. State, 167 Ark. 492, 268 S. W. 861; Sanders v. State, 175 Ark. 61, 296 S. W. 70; Durham v. State, 179 Ark. 508, 16 S. W. (2d) 991.

Affirmed.

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Bluebook (online)

70 S.W.2d 39, 188 Ark. 1081, 1934 Ark. LEXIS 337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guthrie-v-state-ark-1934.

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