St. Clair v. State

254 S.W. 473, 160 Ark. 170, 1923 Ark. LEXIS 242
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 24, 1923
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 254 S.W. 473 (St. Clair 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
St. Clair v. State, 254 S.W. 473, 160 Ark. 170, 1923 Ark. LEXIS 242 (Ark. 1923).

Opinion

McCulloch, C. J.

Appellant has prosecuted an appeal from each of two judgments of conviction of the crime of selling whisky, hut, as the cases are similar, the attorneys have, by.consent, briefed them together, and the two cases will be disposed of in one opinion. ■

There are two separate indictments charging the sale ocf whiskey on the same day, but the oases were tried on different days of the term of court. It was the contention of the prosecuting attorney that two separate offenses were involved, and such is the contention of the Attorney General now, but counsel for appellant contends that there was only one offense committed, if any, and in the second trial there was a plea of former conviction.

In the first case which was tried the State relied for conviction on an alleged sale of whiskey to Jim Dickerson and C. T. Jones, and in the second case the State relied on an alleged sale to Mon Patterson and Joe Chandler. The sales were, according to the testimony, consummated at the same time. The facts in the cases are as follows: On the day in question Dickerson, according to his own testimony, met appellant on the street in Clarksville and .asked him if he knew where whiskey could be obtained, and appellant replied that it could be found ih a little hollow about five miles from Clarksville, near a place called Hudson Springs. According to Dickerson’s testimony, nothing was said between them about paying for the liquor. Dickerson called Jones, and the two got into Dickerson’s car and drove out to the designated place and searched for the liquor, but found none. They returned to their car and found that they had tire trouble, and while engaged in repairing the tire Patterson and Chandler drove up in another car, and, after getting out of the car, went to a thicket near by to search for whiskey.

Patterson testified that he applied to a man in Clarks-ville, with whom he was unacquainted, and had never seen before nor since, and inquired for whiskey, and the man told him that whiskey could be found in a thicket out at Hudson Springs. According to Patterson’s testimony, there was no further conversation .about the sale of liquor or about paying anything for it, except that the man told Patterson that, after he found the liquor and drove back toward town, he would meet a man on horseback, who would stop as soon as they met, and Patterson was directed to pay the man for the whiskey when they met on the road. Patterson testified -that he was not acquainted with this man, but that it was a man who had on a soldier’s uniform. Patterson called Chandler, and they went out together in the car and drove to the place where they were directed, finding Dickerson and Jones when they got there. After stopping their car, they went to the thicket to which they were directed, and, after making a search, they found two gallons of whiskey, in four half-gallon fruit jars. Dickerson and Jones were near them at the time, bnt did not see them when they found the liquor. Patterson and Chandler carried the liquor hack to their car, and, after putting it in, they drove up to where Dickerson and Jones were engaged in repairing their oar, and one of the jars, containing a half-gallon of liquor, was delivered to Dickerson and Jones, and the other three jars were retained by Patterson and Chandler. The car in which Patterson and Chandler were riding was found to be slightly out of repair when they started back to town, and, after repairs on both cars had been made, the whole party started back to town, Patterson and Chandler driving in front, and the other car following close behind. After driving about two- miles in the direction of Clarksville they met appellant riding horseback, and, as soon as they approached each other, appellant stopped, and the cars were also stopped. Without anything at all being said, according to the testimony, Patterson and Chandler paid appellant fifteen dollars for the whiskey they got, and Dickerson and Jones paid appellant six dollars for the whiskey they got.

Appellant did not testify in the case, but all of the other parties named — Patterson, Chandler, Dickerson, and Jones — testified that nothing was said when the money was paid. Dickerson testified that he had been acquainted with appellant for a number of years, and identified him as the man who gave him the directions in Clarksville as to where the liquor could be found and as the man to whom the payments for the whiskey were made.

In the first case tried the prosecuting attorney introduced as witnesses Dickerson and Jones, and then rested the case, relying entirely up-on their testimony and upon the alleged sale of whiskey to those two witnesses. Thereupon counsel for appellant introduced Patterson as a witness and drew from him a statement of the facts recited above. At the conclusion of Patterson’s testimony the- following colloquy occurred between tbe prosecuting attorney and the court:

“Mr. Borex (prosecuting attorney): I am relying on the testimony of Jones and Dickerson, and upon that alone. Court: The court will instruct the jury that this testimony is incompetent, except for the fact that it may show the circumstances of the man’s doing business, and what he is following, and that you are not trying him and will not find him guilty for selling to this witness, Patterson and Chandler. The testimony is not introduced for that purpose.”

Appellant’s counsel also called Chandler and introduced him as a witness, and at the conclusion of his «testimony the following occurred:

“Mr. Rorex: I want to ask the court at this time to tell the jury not to convict on the testimony of Joe Chandler, as upon the testimony of Mun Patterson. The State relies upon the sale made to Jones. Court: The court instructs the jury that the State is relying for a conviction in this case on the sale to Jones and Dickerson and not to Patterson and Chandler, and that this testimony is not admissible for consideration as to the guilt of the'defendant in selling to Jones and Dickerson further than it may 'be a circumstance, and you may consider it for whatever light it might throw on the truth or falsity of the charge in general, but not for the purpose of conviction.”

Appellant’s counsel objected to these rulings' and statements of the court in the presence of the jury, and ■saved exceptions. ; -

The court, in its final instructions to the jury, stated that the State relied solely on the alleged sale to Dickerson and Jones, and that the jury “shall only consider ■his guilt or innocence as to that particular transaction.”

On the trial of the other case the State introduced Patterson and Chandler, and announced its reliance for conviction solely on their testimony and the sale alleged to have been made to them. Appellant pleaded former conviction, and introduced the record in tlie former trial, which included the testimony of all four of the .parties mentioned. The contention is now, as before stated, that the facts of the case only constitute one offense — a joint sale to all four of the parties. We are of the opinion that, under the facts of the ease, there were two separate offenses — at least the jury might have so found — and that the State was entitled to make an election, after refraining from introducing all of the witnesses to make out a case for two separate convictions. The' case is ruled in this respect by our decision in Turner v. State, 130 Ark.

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Related

Weaver v. State
46 S.W.2d 37 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1932)
Dickerson v. State
255 S.W. 873 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1923)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
254 S.W. 473, 160 Ark. 170, 1923 Ark. LEXIS 242, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-clair-v-state-ark-1923.