Rose v. State

1909 OK CR 121, 103 P. 1066, 3 Okla. Crim. 12, 1909 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 201
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 25, 1909
DocketNo. 184.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 1909 OK CR 121 (Rose v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rose v. State, 1909 OK CR 121, 103 P. 1066, 3 Okla. Crim. 12, 1909 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 201 (Okla. Ct. App. 1909).

Opinion

OWEN, Judge.

The counsel for the defendant urge three reasons for reversing the case. They begin their brief by stating:

“The principal contention of the plaintiff in error is, first, that there was no evidence on the hearing of the cause either proving or tending to establish the guilt of the defendant and that the verdict was against the evidence, and for that reason the court erred in, first, not instructing a verdict for the defendant, and, second, in refusing the defendant a new trial after the verdict of guilty.”

We find on examination of the record that one witness testified to having stood in the alley, and, looking through the window into defendant’s place of business, saw two men at different times enter the place of business and approach the defendant, and, after some conversation, the defendant and the man went behind a bar, which had been formerly used in a saloon run by defendant before statehood; that on returning from behind the bar he saw the defendant put s'omething in his pocket and the other men on *13 each occasion put something in their pockets. One of the men, on returning to the street, was searched by the witness, who was an officer, and was found to have a bottle of whisky in his hip pocket —the pocket into which the witness saw him put something as he emerged from behind the bar. The other man evaded the officer, and was,not searched. Another witness testified to having seen a shipment of five barrels of whisky in the Missouri, Kansas & Texas depot consigned to the defendant. The defendant testified that about the time mentioned in the testimony of witness for the state a man came into' his place of business and called for a drink of water, and that he showed him behind the bar where he could get some water. He denied selling whisky to this man or to any other man. His evidence so far as giving the man a drink of water was concerned was corroborated by two other witnesses. The defendant was not asked on the witness stand whether the shipment of five barrels of whisky belonged to him, or was ever received by him. That testimony on the part of the state was not contradicted by either the defendant or any of his witnesses. The jury heard the testimony, saw the witnesses, and returned a verdict of guilty.

The jury was very properly instructed by the court as to the weight of evidence in the following language:

“You are the sole judges of the weight of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses; and, where witnesses testify directly opposite to each other, you are not bound to consider the weight of evidence evenly balanced, but, in determining the weight and credit that shall be given to the testimony of any witness, you may take into consideration his appearance upon the stand, his manner of testifying, his apparent candor and fairness or lack of the same, his intelligence or lack of intellligence, his opportunity or lack of opportunity for seeing and knowing the things about which he testified, his interest or lack of interest in the result of the action, and,. .together with all the facts and circumstances shown at the trial, determine the weight and credit that should .be given to the testimony of any witness, and give credit accordingly.”

This court in the case of Walter Cox v. Territory of Oklahoma, 2 Okla. Cr. 668, 104 Pac. 378, in passing on a similar assignment of error, said:

*14 “This court will not disturb a verdict where there is competent evidence in the record reasonably tending to sustain the verdict. * * * There being competent testimony on the part of the state reasonably tending to prove the issue, the verdict will not be disturbed for that reason.”

We deem it unnecessary here to cite the authorities that are cited in that case. As was said there :

“The decisions are uniform as to the rule that the judgment of the trial court will not be disturbed where there is competent evidence reasonably tending to sustain the judgment.”

The second reason urged by counsel for defendant is:

“That the trial court erred in permitting the state to amend the complaint in this cause after the jury had been impaneled and sworn and after the plaintiff below had rested, and after the defendant below had moved the court to direct the verdict.”

In the brief filed by counsel, they fail to point out the amendment referred to or the page of the record on which the same may be found. At page 35 of the record, at the conclusion of the testimony on part of the state, and after the defendant had moved the court to direct the verdict, we find the following statement:

“And thereupon the plaintiff asks leave to amend its complaint. By the Court: I think it is a proposition which is entirely a question of fact for the jury to determine as to whether or not there is a sale of whisky, and I will allow the county attorney to amend his complaint so as to conform with the facts. (To which ruling the defendant excepts. Motion to instruct a verdict overruled, and an exception allowed the defendant. Thereupon, the defendant proceeds with the introduction of his evidence as follows, etc.)”

As was held by this court in the case of Ollie Lancaster and Luke Jenkins v. State of Oklahoma, 2 Okla. Cr. 681, 103 Pac. 1065, an information may be amended after the defendant has pleaded, if it in no manner alters the condition of the case to his injury. Section 5307, Wilson’s Rev. & Ann. St. 1903, is as follows :

“An information may be amended in matter of substance or •form at any time before the defendant pleads without leave, and may be amended after plea on an order of the court where the same can be done without material prejudice to the rights of the *15 defendant; no amendments shall cause any delay of the trial unless for good cause shown by affidavit.”

There is nothing in the record before us to indicate what the amendment was. Neither is there anything in the record nor in the brief filed by counsel to indicate in what manner the eonditiou of the defendant was altered by the amendment. Whatever the amendment was, we feel safe in- assuming the learned counsel whose names appear on the brief would have complained to the trial court by pointing out how the defendant would be injured and asked a continuance of the case if the amendment was one that was calculated to do injury to the defendant. And they would have made it appear in the record as to what the amendment was, and would have pointed out -to this court in their brief how the defendant was injured.

The third reason assigned by counsel is:

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Related

Cox v. State
1913 OK CR 120 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1913)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1909 OK CR 121, 103 P. 1066, 3 Okla. Crim. 12, 1909 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 201, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rose-v-state-oklacrimapp-1909.