Scott v. State

252 S.W. 756
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas·Decided February 14, 1923·No. No. 6913·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinions

HAWKINS, J.

The conviction is for the offense of robbery; punishment fixed at confinement in the penitentiary for a period of 12 years.

Givens kept a country store. According to his testimony, and that of his wife, the appellant and one Fields came to his store at nighttime and, both exhibiting pistols, robbed Givens of a sum of money. This took place at about 11 o’clock at night. Appellant and Fields came in a large automobile, and a woman, who was with them, remained in the car during the robbery. They left, going in the direction of Wichita Falls. Givens notified the police at Wichita Falls of the occurrence and went to that city, where later, at the City Hall, he found the appellant and Fields and a woman called Goldie. One of the parties in making the robbery had a flashlight in his possession. It was a moonlight night. The distance from Dean to Wichita Falls was about 11 miles. Upon the testimony of Givens, the state rested its case.

- Appellant introduced several witnesses, each of whom testified to different circumstances establishing, if true, an alibi. One witness said that be met appellant in Wicbita Falls about the time of the robbery; that appellant was alone on foot, intoxicated, and was taken home by the witness. Another witness testified that at the time of the robbery Fields was at the home of his father, some 20 or more miles from the scene of the offense. Still another testified that Fields was at a point far distant from the place at which the offense took place. Both of these witnesses claimed that Fields and appellant were not in company with each other and not in appellant’s automobile, not in company with a woman, and not in the vicinity of Dean, where Givens’ store was situated.

In rebuttal, the state introduced the witness Virgil Johnson, who said that he saw the appellant on the night of the robbery about 150 yards from the Dean and Wichita Falls Road; that he was in a car coming from the direction of Dean and going toward Wichita Falls; that, as he passed appellant’s ear, shots were fired; that, proceeding along the road, the parties in the car fired at the witness; that appellant did the shooting. This occurred about midnight at a point about 6 miles from Dean toward Wichita" Falls. Besides the appellant, there was a man and a woman in the car.

Botenhamer testified that he was acquainted with Fields and saw him on the night of the robbery in an automobile with another man and a woman. He was seen at a point about 5 or 6 miles from Dean, going towards Dean; and he saw them again about 4 miles south of Dean. The ear at the time was standing, and one of the men was on the ground; that a gun was fired a time or two. Fields and the woman were sitting in the car. This occurred about 11 o’clock at night. They were later seen about 6 miles from Dean, going in the direction of Wichita Falls. In passing the witness, they fired their pistols.

[757]*757The witness Forbian testified that on the 10th of October he saw Fields and Scott at his house about 9:30 o’clock; that they were in the back yard. Fields introduced himself as Belcher,' an officer sent there by Chief of Police Morgan to search the house. The party, consisting of Fields, Scott, and a woman, were in a five-passenger Buick car.

Taylor testified that he knew Fields; that' he saw him on the night of October 10th in' Wichita Falls between 12 and 1 o’clock; that he was in a Buick five-passenger car with red wheels; that Fields drove up and asked for “Scotty”; that Fields told the witness to take some things out of his car; that he took therefrom a gun and a searchlight.

George Hawkins, the sheriff, testified that he got a gun and a flashlight at the Hearn Hotel upon information received from Louis Taylor, the porter. The witness searched Scott’s car — a Buick five-passenger ear with red wheels — and found therein two packages of chewing gum, which was afterwards delivered to Mr. Givens at Dean. The search took place about 2 o’clock at night. The gun found was exhibited at the trial.

The admissibility of the testimony to the effect that the appellant and his companions fired the pistol in the road; that they shot at the witness Johnson; that they impersonated officers and searched the house of witness Forbian — is challenged upon the ground that in each instance the rule excluding extraneous offenses was transgressed. The general rule excluding other offenses is well established. See Underhill on Evidence, § 87, and Texas decisions in note 1. Difficulties are encountered in the effort to determine whether in a given case the facts present an exception to the general rule. See Branch’s Ann. Tex. P. C. § 166. One of the exceptions to the rule excluding other crimes is that which, under circumstances, permits their introduction upon the issue of identity. See Underhill on Crim. Evidence, § 91. Of this Mr. Branch, in his Ann. Tex. Penal Code, says:

“When identification of defendant is not sufficiently established, andi the proof shows that whoever committed some previous crime committed the one under consideration, proof of the previous offense is admissible to show identity.”

The testimony of Johnson, Botenhamer, and Forbian bears upon matters of identity and tends to counteract appellant’s alibi. It was contended by the defense that appellant and Fields were not together in a car with a woman at any time, under the circumstances testified to by the state’s witnesses. It may be said that proof of another similar and independent crime does not become admissible because of the sheer fact that it happened on the same night. Nunn v. State, 60 Tex. Cr. It. 86, 131 S. W. 320; Pace v. State, 58 Tex. Cr. R. 90, 124 S. W. 949; Owen v. State, 58 Tex. Cr. R. 261, 125 S. W. 405; Brown v. State, 54 Tex. Cr. R. 129, 112 S. W. 80; Hill v. State, 44 Tex. Cr. R. 603, 73 S. W. 9; Woodard v. State (Tex. Cr. App.) 51 S. W. 1122; Hunt v. State (Tex. Cr. App.) 60 S. W. 965; Wigmore on Evidence, vol. 1, § 304. But Forbian’s testimony shows ‘that appellant and Fields were together at his house on the night of the alleged offense and had a woman with them in the car; that Fields impersonated an officer and searched his house, ostensibly looking for whisky; that appellant and the woman waited for him while this was being accomplished. While this would perhaps establish the independent crime of impersonating an officer, it at the same time was a part of appellant’s and Fields’ visit to the home of the witness Forbian; it contradicted the defense interposed by appellant and was so closely interwoven with the conduct of the two parties on the night of the alleged robbery that we have been unable to bring ourselves to agree to appellant’s contention that it was not admissible.

In the instant case it seems plausible that if the state in' the development of its .original case had sought to introduce the testimony of Johnson, Botenhamer, and For-bian it would have been properly rejected because at that time the identity of appellant as one of the assailants of Givens was an uncontroverted fact, proved by direct and positive testimony. After, however, appellant introduced witnesses to show that neither he nor Fields were the parties who committed the robbery, then, manifestly, it was competent for the state to counteract this proof by any competent and relevant testimony it could command. Givens testified that his assailants had pistols; that they came in an automobile; that a woman was with them.

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Scott v. State, 252 S.W. 756 (Tex. 1923).

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