Newton v. State

202 S.W.2d 921, 150 Tex. Crim. 500, 1947 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 966
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 23, 1947
DocketNo. 23637
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 202 S.W.2d 921 (Newton 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
Newton v. State, 202 S.W.2d 921, 150 Tex. Crim. 500, 1947 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 966 (Tex. 1947).

Opinions

GRAVES, Judge.

Appellant was convicted for an assault with intent to murder Roy E. Hunt and by the jury assessed a term of two years in the penitentiary, and he appeals therefrom.

The main facts here proven are practically the same as those set forth in a previous trial and appealed to this court. See Newton v. State, (147 Texas Crim. Rep. 400) 180 S. W. (2d) 946. However, there are some few new facts shown and the omission of some further facts herein, both relating to the defense of alibi.

[502]*502Relative to the facts, it is shown by a reproduction of Dr. Hunt’s testimony given in the former trial that on the night in question, he saw Mrs. Ruth Newton at about midnight in a car on a road a short distance from the town of Littlefield; that upon her request, he passed in front of the car in which she was seated, and she flashed on the lights; that appellant appeared from behind the car and said, “Hands up. Don’t you know that is a married woman?” He then fired two shots into Hunt’s body and he fell, whereupon appellant fired again, missing Hunt; that after a short time appellant and his wife drove away and Hunt went to Littlefield, where he was found to be shot, once through the chest and once through the stomach, both being serious wounds. Two witnesses identified Mrs. Newton as being the woman who used a telephone at McCormick’s Filling Station in Littlefield about midnight on the night that Dr. Hunt was shot. Testimony to the same effect was given by a further witness who was positive in his identification of Mrs. Newton. Two other witnesses told of the incident of a lady using the ’phone at such time and place but merely gave it as their judgment that the lady closely resembled Mrs. Newton. As opposed to these witnesses, appellant presented an array of witnesses who testified to an alibi, showing his presence at Cameron up to an early hour of the evening, and his further presence at Houston during the night and early morning* hours of the day of May 21, 1942, Dr. Hunt having been shot about midnight of May 20, 1942. Thus the issue was sharply drawn, and the jury were called upon to determine the conflict between these two lines of testimony.

Appellant complains in Bill of Exceptions No. 1 because of the fact that through inadvertence, after the jury had been empaneled, eleven certain witnesses were heard before the jury, at which time it was discovered that the indictment had not been read or presented to the jury and the defendant had not been called upon to plead, nor had he pleaded before the jury, whereupon the trial court stated, “We overlooked the indictment, gentlemen; it just escaped me that the indictment hadn’t been read”, at which point the appellant objected to the reading of such indictment at such stage of the proceedings, which objection was by the court overruled and the State proceeded with the reading of the indictment before the jury and the defendant entered his plea of not guilty. The State then offered to re-introduce all of its previously introduced testimony by again placing the witnesses upon the stand and interrogating them, whereupon appellant’s attorney stated that he would agree that the jury could consider the testimony that [503]*503had been introduced before the reading of the indictment just as though it were re-introduced, and the appellant’s plea without again hearing such testimony from the witnesses. Thereupon, appellant himself stated that he agreed to such proceeding and all parties then waived the re-introduction of such testimony, but appellant still objected and excepted to the trial court’s action in allowing the indictment to be read at such stage of the trial, as well as appellant being then called upon to plead thereto. We think the appellant waived his right to have this evidence re-introduced. One accused of crime can waive any right except the right of trial by jury in a capital case. See Art. 11, Vernon’s Ann. Tex. C. C. P., Vol. 1; also Terwillinger v. State, 191 S. W. (2d) 481, and cases cited.

Bill of Exceptions No. 2 relates to the reproduction of the testimony of Dr. Roy E. Hunt, who had died after the first trial hereof and before the present trial. It was shown that the testimony of this witness had been taken down by the court reporter at the former trial herein in August, 1943, and had been transcribed by the reporter who was tendered as a witness and was allowed to read from his transcribed notes. That such a procedure was proper, see Robertson v. State, 63 Tex. Cr. R. 216, 142 S. W. 533; also 12 Tex. Jur. p. 528, and cases there cited.

But, it is contended that it was nowhere shown in such bill that the transcribed version of Dr. Hunt’s testimony was a correct version thereof. While such a statement might be inferred from the testimony of the court reporter found in the bill, still we find in the statement of facts a further statement by the reporter in which he testifies:

“I correctly reported that testimony and I correctly transcribed my shorthand notes of Dr. Hunt’s testimony.”

We are of the opinion that such testimony was correctly admitted before the jury. See Robertson v. State, supra.

Appellant complains in his Bill No. 3 because of the fact that Dr. Hunt was asked the question: “Doctor, state to the jury what was your occasion for going out on the highway at the time you were shot?” To which the testimony shows he answered: “I went out to see Mrs. Newton.” Appellant objected to this answer and requested the court to withdraw same from the jury, which the court refused to do. The gist of the objection was that such was an unknown and undisclosed [504]*504motive upon the part of Dr. Hunt and was not shown to have been brought to the notice of appellant. We think the trial court was correct in its ruling. It is shown by the reproduction of Dr. Hunt’s testimony that he went out on the highway near the town of Littlefield in response to a telephone call. When he got there he found Mrs. Newton in a two-seated car, and in a few moments he was shot. That he had just previously had a telephone conversation with Mrs. Newton; that from 8:30 to 12:00 o’clock midnight of the night he was shot he had three conversations with her. He had these conversations over the ‘phone with Mrs. Newton, and in response to the last conversation, “he went out to meet Mrs. Newton”; he found her there and was shot by her husband immediately upon greeting her. We think the testimony was admissible as being res gestae of the transaction in which appellant and his wife are jointly charged with this assault upon Dr. Hunt, although a severance had been granted and Dr. Newton alone is upon trial here. Again, we think the act of Mrs. Newton herein is the act of appellant also, and both being actions leading to the consummation of a common design; the act of one was the act of the other in furtherance of such design. Furthermore, we do not think the answer of the witness impinged upon or in any way affected the appellant’s defense, which was an alibi, and such testimony was in no way binding upon the appellant. Again, it is shown by his. testimony that Dr. Hunt did meet Mrs. Newton, and we see no reason why his reason for going out there could in any way have affected appellant’s presentation of his alibi defense.

Bill No. 4 merely objects to the statement of Dr. Hunt, shown by his reproduced testimony, that when he left his home to go out near Littlefield, his wife was at home. We see no merit in this bill.

Bill No.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
202 S.W.2d 921, 150 Tex. Crim. 500, 1947 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 966, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/newton-v-state-texcrimapp-1947.