Sanders v. State

262 S.W. 327, 164 Ark. 491, 1924 Ark. LEXIS 418
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMay 26, 1924
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 262 S.W. 327 (Sanders v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sanders v. State, 262 S.W. 327, 164 Ark. 491, 1924 Ark. LEXIS 418 (Ark. 1924).

Opinion

Wood, J.

The indictment charged that the appellant “unlawfully and feloniously did sell alcoholic, vinous, malt, spirituous and fermented liquors and compounds and preparations thereof, commonly called tonics, hitters, and medicated liquors.” The appellant was tried and convicted on the above charge and sentenced by judgment of the court to imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for a period of one year, from which judgment is this appeal.

The prosecuting attorney, in his closing argument, among other things said: “It is not denied that the defendant sold the liquors mentioned in the indictment. He has not denied it; Mr. DeBois did not deny it in his argument; Mr. Miller does not deny it in his argument to you gentlemen, and no one else has denied it. The witnesses have testified that they bought it, and so the only question for you gentlemen to determine, under the law as given you by the court, is whether or not the stuff which the defendant did sell was intoxicating’, or contained alcohol.” The appellant entered a plea of not guilty to the indictment, but did not testify at the trial. He contends that the court erred in overruling his objection to the above argument.

When the remarks of the State’s attorney are considered as a whole, they cannot be fairly interpreted to have reference to the failure of the defendant to testify, but only to the fact that the witnesses had testified that the defendant sold the liquors mentioned in the indictment, and that they had bought the same, and that such fact was undisputed by the testimony. The appellant contends that the case is ruled on this point by the case of Curtis v. State, 89 Ark. 394-401. In that case Curtis was charged with the crime of carnal abuse. The prose'cutrix testified that Curtis had sexual intercourse with her when she was of the age of fifteen years, and the prosecuting attorney, in his closing argument, stated to the jury that “the defendant does not deny that he had sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix.” We held that the argument in that case was prejudicial and reversible error, because it necessarily referred to the failure of the defendant to testify. But the remarks here under consideration do not refer to the failure of the defendant to testify. On the contrary, as we have already stated, when they are considered as a whole the prosecuting attorney was emphasizing the fact that, so far as the sale of the liquors was concerned, there was no dispute in the testimony. When the entire record is considered, it shows that the defense of the appellant in the case at bar was bottomed upon the contention that the liquors sold by him were sold as medicine, and not upon the contention that he did not sell the particular character of liquors which the witnesses for the State testified they purchased of him. His contention was solely that such liquors did not come within the inhibition of § 6160, Crawford & Moses’ Digest, under which the appellant was indicted. For instance, appellant’s prayer for instruction No. 6 is as follows: “You are instructed that, if you find that the concoctions which the defendant sold to the prosecuting witness were kept and sold by the defendant as medicine or for medicinal purposes, then, under the law, it is immaterial whether the prosecuting witness used the same as a beverage, and, if the State has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant sold such concoctions for use as a beverage, then you should acquit the defendant. ’ ’ The prayer presented by the appellant in this form shows that, while conceding that he sold certain concoctions or liquors as testified by the witnesses for the State, nevertheless he contended that such sale was not a violation of the statute because he did not sell such liquors as a beverage, but only as a medicine.

It occurs to us therefore that the remarks of the prosecuting attorney, to the effect that the sale of the liquors was not denied, had reference, not to the failure of the appellant to testify, but to the fact that it was being conceded by appellant and his counsel that the sale was made, but that, in making the sale, he was not violating the law. But, if we be mistaken in this interpretation of the remarks of the prosecuting attorney, nevertheless they were not prejudicial, because they but reiterated a fact which had been shown by the undisputed testimony for the State and conceded by the appellant’s counsel. There was no conflict in the testimony as to the fact of the sale.

The appellant further contends that the court erred in permitting the prosecuting attorney to make the following remarks: “Mr. Miller, in his argument to you gentlemen, stated that the testimony in this -ease was not sufficient to justify a conviction. While he was prosecuting-attorney of this district, only a little more than a year ago, I have heard him ask for the conviction of persons charged with the same offense as this defendant, where the testimony was no stronger or more convincing than it is here, and I have seen juries convict such persons as a result of his efforts, just as you gentlemen should and will do in this case.”

In these remarks the prosecuting attorney was merely expressing his opinion of the weight of the testimony in this case compared with what he conceived to be the weight of the testimony in other cases where the appellant’s counsel, who was then prosecuting attorney, had secured, convictions. The remarks were general. No particular case was mentioned, and no facts were given showing that convictions were had in other cases where the testimony was no stronger or more convincing than in the case at bar. The remarks “were no.t calculated to influence a jury of sensible men to disregard the oath they had taken to try the cause according to the law and the evidence and a true verdict render.” Blackshare v. State, 94 Ark. 548-558; Spear v. State, 157 Ark. 283-287.

The appellant next contends that the court erred in permitting C. E. Caldwell, a witness for the State, to testify that he was a deputy sheriff; that he searched the appellant’s place of business, and found in his possession one bottle of Angostura bitters, many bottles of vanilla extract and Jamaica ginger, and that the labels on these bottles showed that they contained alcohol, from 45 to 47 per cent, in the vanilla'extract to 93 per cent, in the Jamaica ginger. There was no error in the ruling of the court. Witnesses for the State had testified that they had bought Jamaica ginger and vanilla extract from the appellant in October and January before this search was made, which was January '28, 1924, and also one witness stated that he didn’t think that he had ever bought any Jamaica ginger or other liquor from the appellant without telling him that he wanted it for medicine; that he wanted it for medicine, as he was not in the best of health — felt run down — and that it made him feel better, but that he drank too much of it and got drunk.

In Leslie v. State, 155 Ark. 526-534, we said: “Testimony therefore tending to prove that Lyko, Jamaica ginger and the other liquors sold by the appellant contained alcohol, that they were intoxicating, were sold by appellant, and used by the purchaser thereof as beverages, was relevant to the charge in the indictment. ’ ’ The doctrine of the above case rules this.

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Related

Hammond v. State
428 S.W.2d 639 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1968)
Powell v. State
292 S.W. 699 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1927)
Tong v. State
276 S.W. 1004 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1925)
Honaker v. State
265 S.W. 353 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1924)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
262 S.W. 327, 164 Ark. 491, 1924 Ark. LEXIS 418, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sanders-v-state-ark-1924.