Magill v. State

103 S.W. 897, 51 Tex. Crim. 357, 1907 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 140
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 17, 1907
DocketNo. 3507.
StatusPublished

This text of 103 S.W. 897 (Magill 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
Magill v. State, 103 S.W. 897, 51 Tex. Crim. 357, 1907 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 140 (Tex. 1907).

Opinion

HENDERSON, Judge.

Appellant was convicted of violating the local option law, and his punishment assessed at a fine of $50 and twenty days confinement in the county jail.

During the trial appellant objected to the order of the commissioners court ordering a local option election made on the 25th of July, 1901. The objection urged to this order is an alleged failure to instruct the county clerk of Burnet County to post the notices in said order mentioned in public places in said county, and fails to designate the length of time said notices should be posted, but leaves it to the discretion of said clerk. That portion of the order reads, as follows: “* * * and it is further ordered that the county clerk post at least five copies of this ordef at different places in the said Burnet County in the manner and for the length of time required by law. (Signed) Ike D. White, County Judge of Burnet County, Texas.” We think this is a sufficient compliance with the law. It ordered five copies posted at different places, which evidently means five different places in Burnet County in the manner and for the length of time required by, law. This referred to the law which authorized the posting of these notices, which gives the manner and length of time required.

Appellant also objected to .the order of the commissioners court and the certificate of the county judge of Burnet County thereto, because it nowhere appears in the certificate of said county judge in what issues of the Burnet Bulletin the said order of the commissioners court was published; is a mere conclusion or assertion of the officer that said publication was made for four successive weeks, unsupported by the statement of facts necessary to show that the said order had been published in the manner and for the length of time required by law. The certificate of the county judge, in connection with said proceedings, is as follows: “I, Ike D. White, County Judge of Burnet County, hereby certify that this order declaring the result of the prohibition election held in Burnet County on August 22, 1901, dated on the 2nd day of September, 1901, and recorded on this and the next succeeding page, to wit: pages 527 and 528, was published in the Burnet Bulletin, a newspaper published in Burnet County, Texas, for four successive weeks, as required by law.” The contention here is that the *359 specific issues of the newspaper should have' been stated in the judge’s certificate. Article 3391, Civil Code, requires the fact of publication in either mode (that is, whether by publication in a newspaper or by posting notices) shall be entered by the county judge. An entry thus made or a copy thereof is prima facie evidence, etc. The previous portion of the section requires that the order shall be published for four successive weeks in some newspaper published in the county wherein the election was held, which newspaper shall be selected by the county judge. We do not believe it is necessary to state the particular issues of the newspaper in which the publication was made. The certificate of the county judge that publication was made for four successive weeks as required by law would be a sufficient statement of the fact. In Ladwig v. State, 40 Texas Crim. Rep., 585, it was held that the following certificate was not sufficient: “I hereby certify that due proclamation of the result of the election held in justice precinct number seven, Bee County, on the 17th day of December, 1902, has been made as the law requires.” But this case cannot be invoked as authority to invalidate the certificate here given; that certificate was merely a conclusion of the county judge; here he states in his certificate facts; that is, that the order was published in the Burnet Bulletin, a newspaper published in Burnet County, Texas, for four successive weeks as required by law. In Lively v. State, 7 Texas Ct. Rep., 189, the judgment was reversed because the orders of the court putting local option into effect are not shown in the statement of facts. It is said in the opinion: “The certificate of the county judge which Avas required to put local option into effect • is not such as is authorized by law.” In this connection it is shown that the certificate of W. W. Cooke, County Judge of Montague County, in which he states that said notice of the results was published in the Montague Democrat on June 21st, June 28th, July 5th, and July 12th, 1902; it does not appear that the result was made manifest among the orders, and the orders themselves were not copied in the record but reference thereto Avas made. So we take it that neither of these cases are authority for the proposition that the certificate here shown is insufficient.. We believe the certificate was sufficient.

There is a bill of exceptions to the action of the court in alloAving the State’s witness to read over his testimony before the grand jury Avritten in the grand jury book on cross-examination by the State. The court explains this bill by stating that the Avitness Bingham having apparently, read over some entry or Avriting in a book, reiterated and reaffirmed, his statement made before reading the book, that he did drink whisky several times during the day, and drank the substance called lino at regular intervals on the same day; that neither the court nor counsel for defendant saw or read the entry in the book that was shown" to the witness, and can only conjecture what it Avas. As explained there was no error in this action of the court; at most, the *360 book was used to refresh the'recollection of the witness, and he reiterated his testimony.

After the State had rested its case, and the defendant’s evidence had been heard, one J. W. Scott was placed upon the stand as a witness for the State, and testified that on the 26th day of October, 1906, he purchased at the club-room of the defendant, in Bertram, Texas, some Ino, and that he brought some of it .to Burnet, and that he afterwards, to wit: on the 27th day of January, 1907, took some of this Uno to Austin, Texas, and on the 29th day of January, 1907, delivered the same to one C. T. Dowell for analysis, and that while in Austin the said witness purchased a bottle of Schlitz beer and a bottle of Budweiser beer, and delivered that also to the said Dowell to be analyzed by him, and the defendant at the time it ivas offered objected to said testimony for the reasons following: “Because the same was not in rebuttal of any evidence brought out by the defendant, was affirmative matter that should have been brought out in the trial • of the case before the State rested its ease, was taking an unfair advantage of the defendant, and ivas calculated to injure him,” etc. We do not believe these objections were tenable.

In the next bill of exceptions it is shown that the witness C. T. Dowell was placed on the stand for the State, and was permitted, over appellant’s objections, to testify that he was a chemist, and sometime about the 20th day of December, 1906, J. B. Smith, turned over to him at Austin certain bottles containing fluid for an analysis; that he analyzed the same and found that one of the bottles contained 3% per cent, alcohol and the other bottle contained 3 9-10 per cent, alcohol ; that he analyzed ten bottles of fluid for J. W. Scott; that he found one of the bottles delivered to him by Scott contained 4 2-10 per cent. alcohol, one bottle 1 68-100 per cent. alcohol, another 3 58-100 per cent. alcohol, another 1 84-100 per cent. alcohol, another 1 77-100 per cent. alcohol, another 3 98-100 per cent. alcohol, another 1 69-100 per cent.

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Related

Ladwig v. State
51 S.W. 390 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1899)

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Bluebook (online)
103 S.W. 897, 51 Tex. Crim. 357, 1907 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/magill-v-state-texcrimapp-1907.