Hardin v. State

211 S.W. 233, 85 Tex. Crim. 220
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 5, 1919
DocketNo. 4946
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 211 S.W. 233 (Hardin 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
Hardin v. State, 211 S.W. 233, 85 Tex. Crim. 220 (Tex. 1919).

Opinions

LATTIMORE, J.

In this case appellant was tried in the district court of Hood county for the offense of perjury, and from a judgment of conviction brings the case before us on appeal.

The first complaint of the appellant is as to the sufficiency of the indictment, of which he complained in a motion to quash, motion in arrest of judgment, request for peremptory instructions, and special charge No. 1, all substantially presenting the same contention. The charging part of the indictment in the case-reads as follows:

“Whereupon it then and there became and was a material inquiry before said grand jury, and necessary for the due administration of the criminal law of said state and for the ends of public justice, whether in said county and state on or about the 13th day of February, A. D. 1916, the said Gat Hardin, a man, and Minnie Bardshaw, a woman, not his wife, did then and there live together and have carnal intercourse with each other, he being then and there lawfully married to another person, then living, and it further became and was a material inquiry before said grand jury whether in said county and state on or about the day and date last above written the said Gat Hardin, a man, and Minnie Bradshaw, a woman, not his wife, did have habitual carnal intercourse with each other without living together, he being then and there lawfully married to another person then living, and it further became and was a material inquiry before said grand jury, and necessary for the due administration of the criminal law in said state and for the ends of public justice whether said Gat Hardin, after placing one Minnie Bradshaw in a certain house and place conducted by G. C. Morris and his wife, Mrs. G. C. Morris, in the city of Ft. Worth, in Tarrant county, Tex., the said place then and there being a rescue home for fallen women, did' represent and state to said G. C. Morris and Mrs. G. C. Morris that he, the said Gat Hardin, was S. L. Johnson, and that said woman so placed by said Gat Hardin in said rescue home was named Mamie Johnson and whether the said Gat Hardin did then and there in said city of Ft. Worth, Tarrant county, Tex., after placing said Minnie Bradshaw under the name of Mamie Johnson in said rescue home did on or about the 18th day of August, 1916, take said Minnie Bradshaw from said rescue home and return with her to said rescue home the following day thereafter, and whether the said Gat Hardin did on or about the 18th day of September, A. D. 1916, take said Minnie Bradshaw from said rescue home in said Ft. Worth and return with her to said rescue home the following 'day thereafter,” etc.

The indictment further proceeds to set forth that Gat Hardin swore that he did not at any time or place within two years have sexual intercourse with Minne Bradshaw, and that he did not tell Mr. or Mrs. Morris that his name was S. L. Johnson, nor that Minnie Bradshaw’s name was Mamie Johnson, nor that she was his sister, and [235]*235that he did not remember taking her away from the rescue home in Ft. Worth, conducted by the Morrises, and keeping her away all night on two occasions, but that he took her to’ picture shows from their house, always bringing her back the same night. The indictment further charges that all these statements were material and were false, and then sets out the traverse as to each of these matters.

Appellant’s motion to quash is as follows:

“I. Because said indictment fails to charge all of the essential elements which are necessary to constitute the crime of perjury, in that the said indictment, among other things, attempts to set out the essential elements which, in law, constitute the crime of adultery, but in the charging part thereof it fails to set out and allege' some of the elements which, in law, constitute said offense.
“II. Because the said indictment is duplicitous, indefinite, and uncertain, in that it is so drawn that it does not set out and allege many of the essential elements which are necessary to constitute the crime of perjury.
“III. Because many of the allegations in said indictment, wherein it is sought to allege the essential elements of perjury, allege facts and circumstances that are absolutely immaterial, and the testimony thereon, if admitted in evidence before a jury, could serve no purpose except to prejudice the minds of the jury against the defendant, and would not and could not be of any probative force in establishing the offense of the perjury sought to be established in this case on the part of the state.
“IV. Because said indictment is defective, duplicitous, and uncertain, in that it alleges an& sets out facts and circumstances that are charged to have taken place in a county other than that over which this court has jurisdiction.
“V. Because said indictment contains allegations and charges of acts and conduct alleged against the defendant that took place in a county beyond the jurisdiction of this court and acts and conduct which, if they did constitute an offense under the laws of this state, another and different court would have jurisdiction over the same, and the said alleged act and conduct do not constitute any offense over which this court or any other court of Hood county would have jurisdiction, and the said allegations and the proof thereunder, in case the same should be admitted in evidence before a jury on the trial of this case, could and would serve no other purpose except to prejudice the minds of the jury against the defendant, in an undue manner and in a manner not warranted by law, inasmuch as the defendant is entitled to a fair and impartial trial under the Constitution and laws of this state, upon legitimate testimony and such testimony only as is properly admissible under an indictment for perjury.
“VI. And especially does he move the court to strike out and hold for naught the allegations and statements in said indictment wherein it alleges certain conversations between the defendant and the prosecuting witnesses, Morris and wife, and wherein it alleges certain acts and conduct on the part of the defendant in Tarrant county, Tex., because said transactions would and are immaterial under the indictment in this case, could not be the basis of perjury, are immaterial, and, if such proof should be admitted on the trial of this case, it could serve no purpose except to prejudice the minds of the jury against the defendant.”

Appellant presents concretely the substance of his motion to quash, and his other objections to the indictment, in the form of a proposition, which is as follows:

“Before a party can be legally convicted of the offense of perjury committed before a grand jury, the indictment must not only allege the materiality of the defendant’s false statements made before such grand jury, but must go further and allege that the defendant, or some other person, was in fact guilty of some crime against the laws of this state about which he falsely testified, and such indictment must set out and allege the constituent elements of such crime.”

And a statement of the ground of his contention, which is as follows:

“Our contention is that, in order for this indictment to-be good, it must have been alleged therein that the defendant not only made the false statements alleged therein, but it must have been alleged that he was guilty of adultery with Minnie Bradshaw in.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
211 S.W. 233, 85 Tex. Crim. 220, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hardin-v-state-texcrimapp-1919.