Reddick v. State

34 S.W. 274, 35 Tex. Crim. 463, 1896 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 42
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 19, 1896
DocketNo. 875.
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 34 S.W. 274 (Reddick 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
Reddick v. State, 34 S.W. 274, 35 Tex. Crim. 463, 1896 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 42 (Tex. 1896).

Opinion

HURT, Presiding Judge.

Appellant was convicted of rape, and his punishment assessed at death, and he prosecutes this appeal. Upon the trial, over the objection of the appellant, the State ivas permitted to

ove the following facts, by T. C. Nunn, sheriff of Brazos County: *467 That on Monday, after the alleged rape of Fannie Polazo, and after defendant had been arrested for said offense, he placed defendant and eight other negroes in a line in the jail of Brazos County, and then brought Charley Polazo into said jail, and that he identified and pointed out defendant as the man who had committed the rape upon Fannie Polazo. The State was also permitted to prove by Sheriff Bunn, that at the same time and place, and under the same cireumstaneés, Fannie Polazo, the prosecutrix, was carried into the jail, and she identified and pointed out the defendant as the man who had raped her and bit her thumb; and that the said Fannie fainted, and would have fallen had she not been caught and held up by others. These facts were introduced in evidence as original testimony. Were they admissible as original testimony? On "the next morning after the rape, the prosecutrix related what had occurred to her brother-in-law, Joe Polazo, and his wife. Some of the details were permitted to be proven by Polazo and wife. To this there was no objection. If an objection had been interposed, we might revise the action of the court in permitting the State to introduce as original testimony any of the details attending the rape; the rule being that, as original testimony, the prosecution can prove that the woman charged to have been outraged complained of the outrage. • This is admissible, W'hether res gestae or not, as a part of the State’s case. A very clear statement will be found in Thompson v. State, 38 Ind., 40, which states: “That the prosecution may show by the testimony of the prosecuting witness, or that of other witnesses, that she made complaint of the outrage recently after its commission, and when, where, and to whom it was made. That the prosecution will not be allowed to prove the name of the person charged with the crime, or the particulars as narrated by her, the practice being merely to ask whether she made the complaint that such an outrage had been perpetrated upon her, and to receive in answer only, simply, yes or no. That such statement is only corroborative of her testimony, and is not evidence of the fact upon which the jury can find the defendant guilty; and, when she is not a witness in the case, it is ■wholly inadmissible.” See Bish. Crim. Proc., § 912; Reg. v. Osborne, Car. & M., 622; Reg. v. Megson, 9 Car. & P., 420; Beg. v. Alexander, 2 Craw. & D., 126; People v. McGee, 1 Denio, 19; Stephen v. State, 11 Ga., 225; Johnson v. State, 17 Ohio, 593; Laughlin v. State, 18 Ohio, 99; Weldon v. State, 32 Ind., 81; Roscoe on Crim. Ev., 24. Mr. Greenleaf says: “Though a prosecutrix may be asked whether she made complaint of the injury, and when and to whom, and the person to whom she complained is usually called to prove that fact, yet the particular facts which she stated are not admissible in evidence, except when elicited on cross-examination, or by way of confirming her testimony after it has been impeached. On the direct examination the practice has been merely to ask her whether she made complaint that such an outrage had been perpetrated upon her, and to receive only, simply, yes or no. Indeed, the complaint constitutes no part of the res gestae. It is only a fact corroborative of the testimony of the complainant. Where she is *468 not a witness in the ease, it is wholly inadmissible.” See 3 Greenl. Ev. (15th Ed.), § 213. Mr. Taylor, in his work on Evidence, says, “That in no case- can the particulars of the complaint be disclosed by witnesses for the crown, either as original or confirmatory evidence, but the details of the statement can only be elicited by the prisoner’s counsel on cross-examination”—citing Reg. v. Walker, 2 Moody & R., 212; Reg. v. Osborne, Car. & M., 622; Reg. v. Quigley, Ir. Cir. R., 677. Mr. Phillips (volume 1, p. 149, Cow. & H. & E. Notes) says: “In prosecutions for rape or for assault with intent to commit rape, proof of the fact that the prosecutrix made complaint soon after the commission of the alleged crime is admissible, and indeed is generally required; but the particulars of the complaint made cannot be admitted in evidence as to the truth of her statement. The particulars stated, as to the violence used or the person who committed the violence, cannot be received. The evidence should be confined to the bare proof of the fact that the complaint of personal violence was made, and that an individual was charged, without mentioning his name”—citing Reg. v. Walker, 2 Moody & R., 212; Rex v. Wink, 6 Car. & P., 397; Reg. v. Megson, 9 Car. & P., 420; Reg. v. Osborne, 2 Car. & M., 622; Reg. v. Nicholas, 2 Car. & K., 248. This precise question came up in Pefferling v. State, 40 Texas, 487; and the Supreme Court of this State reversed the judgment upon the ground that the brother of the prosecutrix was permitted to swear to a detailed statement made by the prosecutrix (his sister). Judge Moore, speaking for court, says: “It is, we think, well established by reason, as well as the great weight of authority, that proof of the particulars of the complaint and the detailed statement of the alleged facts and circumstances connected with it, as was permitted in this case in the court below, cannot be admitted as original evidence to prove the truth of the statement testified to by the injured party, or to establish the charge made against the prisoner.” What was said by this court in Ruston’s case, 4 Tex. Crim. App., 432;. Fulcher’s case, 28 Tex. Crim. App., 471; Rippey’s case, 29 Tex. Crim. App., 38, and Bruce’s case, 31 Tex. Crim. Rep., 590, in so far as they antagonize the rule here laid down, is expressly overruled. We deem these citations amply sufficient to support the proposition that, as original testimony, nothing but the complaint and the parties to whom related, as stated in the Indiana case above, are admissible. We are not to be understood as holding that the State will not have the right to prove as original testimony that the prosecutrix complained of the outrage, to whom she made complaint, and that she, of course, charged some one with the crime; but we are to be understood as holding that the name of the party charged cannot be given, and that the circumstances of violence cannot be proven in this way. But, when a certain character of attack is made upon the testimony of the prosecutrix by the defense, the particulars of the offense may be proven by the State. If the defendant attempts to prove that she charged somebody else with the crime, or that she said that she did not know who was the guilty *469 party, the State would have the right to show that, soon after the transaction, she charged the defendant with being the person. If the defendant attempts to prove that her testimony has been recently fabricated, as to defendant being the man, the State would have the right to show that she had stated, soon after the transaction, that the defendant was the man.

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Bluebook (online)
34 S.W. 274, 35 Tex. Crim. 463, 1896 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 42, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reddick-v-state-texcrimapp-1896.