Holmes v. State

157 S.W. 487, 70 Tex. Crim. 423, 1913 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 287
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas·Decided May 7, 1913·No. No. 2334.·Published·Cited by 28 cases

Opinion

PRENDERGAST, Judge.

Appellant was convicted of burglary and his punishment fixed at three years in the penitentiary. The indictment was filed November 15th and he was tried December 16, 1912. The uncontradicted testimony shows that the depot building of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Bailway Company at Alba, in Wood County, was burglarized on the night of August 8, 1912. W. L. Mathis was the agent of the said railway company at said point and as such he had the actual possession, charge and control of said depot at the time it was burglarized and it was so burglarized and certain property stolen out of it that night without his knowledge and consent, etc.

Si Davis, a witness for the State, and who was an accomplice, and so charged by the court, testified: “I know the defendant, Kit Holmes. On or about the 8th day of August, 1912, in Wood County, I went to the defendant and asked him if he wanted some whisky and said let’s get some whisky out of the depot. He agreed to do so. I told him I would come to the stable and wake him up, so about 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning I went to the stable and woke the defendant up. We went down to the depot of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Bailway Company and secured two iron bars and prized around quite a while before we got in. We finally got in the south door by putting the crowbars under the bottom of the door and prizing it open and got in. We took seven packages of whisky and a case of beer. I took the whisky and carried it and hid it over in Mr. Woodson’s sorghum field. The defendant took the beer. About the time we was fixing to go I saw somebody coming along. He was a fellow "who worked at the market, and had some dogs. I told the defendant to come on, yonder was somebody and we had better get away. He said he was trying to get some ribbon, and had gotten some ribbon for his girl. We then got away. The next day I brought him up a bottle of whisky and he gave me some *426 of the beer. The beer was hid back of the stable in a pile of refuse from the stable.” Cross-examined: “I did not see the ribbon but only-know he got the ribbon from what he said. He told me he was trying to get some ribbon for his girl. I do not know who first mentioned it about going to the depot, but I think maybe I did.”

Said witness Mathis testified: That on August 8, 1912, at night, said depot at Alba was burglarized; that it was broken open, two crowbars were used in prizing the south door of the depot open; the door was a sliding door; • the bottom worked in a groove made by some 3x4’s, the top kept in place by a roller; the crowbars were put under the door and prized open so as to admit the parties to the burglary.

On cross-examination: That the next morning after the burglary he examined around the depot and found that a small package or caddy of tobacco and looked like some rolls of ribbon had been taken out of a box that was broken open, and seven packages of whisky and one case of beer containing three dozen bottles of beer; that he found the empty beer case out near the depot; he found the crowbars but did not find the whisky and alcohol; he did not know how much ribbon they got; that the ribbon box broken open was shipped to Mrs. Schovall, she declining to take it, and directed that it be returned to the consignor and before it was returned it was broken into as stated; that he did not know whether anything was taken out of the box or not; that he saw ribbon in the box and noticed an empty space large enough for two or three bolts of ribbon and just supposed that some ribbon was taken. On redirect: That there was a piece of the box that the ribbon was in torn off and he could see a space where it looked like two or three bolts of ribbon had been taken.

Mrs. Schovall, who lived at Alba, testified: That prior to the burglary she contemplated going into the millinery business at Alba and ordered a bill of goods from a Dallas house; that the bill of goods to the amount of $176.25 arrived at the depot at Alba the latter part of July, 1912; that she did not receive the goods but directed their return to the consignor; that there were ribbons in her order, some of them wide ribbons and some narrow; that they were of different widths; some "were as wide as your hand, or four or five inches, then some narrow; the colors were blue and white. This was what she ordered; that the wide ribbon comes ten yards in a roll and is used by young ladies for making sashes to wear. She further testified that she was after-wards in the Dallas house which had shipped these goods to her and they did not complain to her of anything being short when the goods were returned.

Several witnesses testified that a young lady by the name of Miss Minnie Loyd, who for several years before this burglary had lived in Mississippi, but before her removal to Mississippi with her parents had lived at Alba, in June, 1912, came to Alba on a visit to her kinfolks and others, and remained on this visit till early in November, but returned to Mississippi just before the grand jury met which indicted *427 appellant in this case; that during this whole time while this young lady was on this visit at Alba, appellant' visited her, took her to picnics in his buggy all along during her visit there, and that he was the only man who did visit, go with and pay attention to this young lady while she was on this visit; that when she left he took her to the depot in his buggy; the train left Alba at 7:02 p. m.; that he went on the train with her and left with her when the train departed, sitting on the same seat with her; that there were two stops of the train within a comparatively short distance from Alba; that night between 8 and 9 o’clock he was seen at his livery stable. There was no secret about the return of this young lady to Mississippi, it being generally known in Alba that she was to leave at the time or about the time she did leave.

Mrs. Patten, a State’s witness, testified: That she knew said Minnie Loyd, had known her a number of years, knew her before she moved to Mississippi; that Miss Minnie formerly lived at Alba and came out some time before the burglary to visit Alba and stayed some time at her house. “On the day of the Golden picnic Miss Minnie went to the picnic with Kit Holmes; that she stayed all day; that it was on Monday or Tuesday, three or - four days after she came back from the Golden picnic I saw her with some ribbon. She told me on Sunday before that she was going to buy or get her a sash or something like that. It was blue and white and was rolled upon the fingers and wrapped up in a white piece of paper. She got it out of her purse, a large handbag about fourteen inches long. This was several days after she got back from the Golden picnic. I do not know how many days but some three or four. . . .

“The picnic at Alba was on Thursday, Friday and Saturday before ¡nenie at Golden, which is eight miles from Alba. I did not see the defendant at my house during the picnic at Alba, hut saw him on the Alba picnic grounds with Miss Minnie Loyd. Other young men besides the defendant were at my house while Miss Loyd was there; can not say whom they came to see.. I never saw any young man but the defendant go out with Miss Loyd while she was at my house. She and defendant went to the Golden picnic alone, in a buggy. She carried this purse, from which I saw her take the ribbon with her to the Golden picnic. There were two pieces of ribbon, one blue and one'white, and ten yards in each piece.

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

Holmes v. State, 157 S.W. 487, 70 Tex. Crim. 423, 1913 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 287 (Tex. 1913).

157 S.W. 487 (Holmes v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Kendall Damaal Johnson v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2024
Bruce Wayne Harkey v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015
Timothy Todd Davenport v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010
William Fancher v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008
Ex Parte Hernandez
165 S.W.3d 760 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2005)
Ex Parte Guadalupe Hernandez
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2005
Demitrius LaMarr Curtis v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2005
Jones v. State
982 S.W.2d 386 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Brosky v. State
915 S.W.2d 120 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Mumphrey v. State
774 S.W.2d 75 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1989)
Reed v. State
744 S.W.2d 112 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1988)
Mitchell v. State
650 S.W.2d 801 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1983)
Paulus v. State
633 S.W.2d 827 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1982)
Stockton v. State
187 S.W.2d 86 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1945)
Middleton v. State
217 S.W. 1046 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1919)
Ingram v. State
182 S.W. 290 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1916)
Cooper v. State
177 S.W. 975 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1915)
Hearne v. State.
165 S.W. 596 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1914)
Albright v. State
164 S.W. 1001 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1914)