Jeffries, Alias Dippy v. State

198 S.W. 778, 82 Tex. Crim. 42, 1917 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 268
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 31, 1917
DocketNo. 4596.
StatusPublished

This text of 198 S.W. 778 (Jeffries, Alias Dippy 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
Jeffries, Alias Dippy v. State, 198 S.W. 778, 82 Tex. Crim. 42, 1917 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 268 (Tex. 1917).

Opinion

*43 PRENDERGAST, Judge.

The indictment herein alleged that appellant, on or about the 22nd day of March, 1917, unlawfully sold to Adam. Dillinger intoxicating liquor in said county after prohibition had been adopted therein in 1910. He was convicted and his punishment assessed at the lowest prescribed by law.

The indictment, so .far as the allegations of the prohibition election, the orders of the Commissioners Court, and the publication thereof are concerned, is exactly like the indictment in the case of Fump Coursey v. State, decided by this court on October 17th, in an opinion by Presiding Judge Davidson, wherein this court held that the indictment was valid. We adhere to that decision. It is useless to discuss the question in this case.

Dillinger, the alleged purchaser, swore positively that he bought a bottle of whisky from appellant as alleged in the indictment, and paid him one dollar therefor. He swore that the sale occurred in an alley hack of a pool hall and restaurant in Gainesville, and that there was no one else present except him and appellant. He further swore that Pink Ozment was not present at the time, and that appellant did not at the time merely give him and Ozment a drink of whisky out of a bottle.

The State proved up and introduced all of the orders of the Commissioners Court ordering the election, the canvass of the returns, and the declaration that prohibition had carried, and the order putting the law in force in that county and the proper publication thereof.

Tom Eord, the sheriff of Cooke County, testified that on or about March 23rd, by virtue of a search warrant for that purpose, he searched appellant’s house and found sixty-seven pints and two quarts of whisky; that he found it in a closet kind of back in the wall; part of it was in a grip, part in the wall of the house, and part in a closet.

The sheriff took the liquor to his office at the time. Appellant did not disclaim ownership of any of it at the time, and never said any part of it was not his until he testified on the trial in this ease.

Mr. Jones, the agent of the American Express Company of Gaines-ville, testified that on March 21st appellant received from said company twelve quarts of intoxicating liquor on the afternoon train of that date. Appellant made no denial of this.

Appellant himself testified and swore that on the occasion when the said witness Dillinger testified that he bought a bottle of whisky from him, that said Ozment was present, and he did not sell said witness any liquor but gave him and Ozment a drink of liquor at that time out of a bottle. He further had Braken, a horse trader, to testify that the day before the sheriff found that liquor in appellant’s house, that he had put thirty-six pints of whisky therein, and his brother swore that at the same time he had put twenty-four pints therein, and they respectively testified that much of the liquor taken by the sheriff belonged to them, but neither had ever set up any claim to it or demanded possession thereof from the sheriff or anyone else.

*44 Without doubt the testimony is amply sufficient to sustain the conviction, and, as stated, the jury assessed the lowest punishment.

Appellant’s bill No. 4 shows that he objected to the introduction in evidence of the order of the Commissioners Court ordering a prohibition election, on the ground that it was immaterial and irrelevant, not supported by the indictment, and it constituted a variance from the allegations in the indictment. This is the substance of the whole bill. It does not give a copy of the order or any other data other than stated. His next bill shows that he objected to the introduction of the order showing, or tending to show, the publication of the said election. This is the whole of the bill, except his objections, that it was immaterial, irrelevant, not -supported by any allegation in the indictment, and at variance with the allegations in the indictment. The order is not copied, and in no other way shown by the bill. By his next bill he objected to the Commissioners Court’s order declaring the result of the prohibition election in said county. That order is not given or otherwise stated. There was no error by the court shown by either of these bills. Doyle v. State, 59 Texas Crim. Rep., 60; Wesley v. State, 57 Texas Crim. Rep., 277; Gibson v. State, 58 Texas Grim. Rep., 403; Hardy v. State, 52 Texas Crim. Rep., 420; Alexander v. State, 53 Texas Crim. Rep., 504, and other eases unnecessary to cite.

By another bill he complains of the court overruling his motion for a continuance. This motion was made because of the absence of said Pink Ozment. He alleged that he caused an application to be made, and a subpoena to be issued and served upon said witness. When, where and how this was done is not alleged, nor is it alleged or shown when the attendance of the witness was required. He alleged that he expected to prove by the witness that at the time of the alleged sale no sale was made, but that he, the defendant, gave to the prosecuting witness a drink of whisky, and that the witness will testify that he was present at the time at which the said sale was" alleged to have taken place. The court qualified the bill, stating that “the court did not believe the statement in said application, and the subsequent affidavit of the witness verifies this belief.” There is a further statement of the judge as to the application for a continuance, wherein he states that the attached affidavit of said witness Ozment shows that defendant’s efforts to have him present were rather feeble. In connection with this motion to continue, appellant made a motion in this court for a certiorari requiring the clerk of the court below to send up properly certified copies of two affidavits, one by appellant and the other by Ozment. The clerk has sent up properly certified copies of these affidavits. They were both made and filed in the court below on May 31, 1917. The affidavit of appellant is to the effect that this case was first set for trial on May 7, 1917; that because his attorney had to be in Oklahoma at that time it was agreed that his case would be passed or postponed until May 14th, but that it was not reached for trial until May 16th; that after this agreement to pass or post *45 pone he met said Ozment on the streets in Gainesville, and he, the witness, asked what about his ease, and appellant told him it would not be tried on that day, but had been postponed; that the witness made no reply to that, and that there was no further conversation between them at that time, or any other time about the case until after the trial of it. That he at no time told Ozment that his case had been continued. The affidavit of Ozment was to the effect that he lived in Gainesville, and had lived there for-years; that he was present with appellant and said Dillinger in an alley in Gainesville when Dillinger claims he bought a pint of whisky from appellant; that they all took a drink of whisky from a bottle that appellant had, but that no sale was made to Dillinger, and nothing said about one; that this was the only time he was ever present when the other two were at said place.

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Related

Wesley v. State
122 S.W. 550 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1909)
Doyle v. State
127 S.W. 815 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1910)
Hardy v. State
107 S.W. 547 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1908)
Alexander v. State
111 S.W. 145 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1908)

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Bluebook (online)
198 S.W. 778, 82 Tex. Crim. 42, 1917 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jeffries-alias-dippy-v-state-texcrimapp-1917.