Starnes v. State

194 S.W. 506, 128 Ark. 302, 1917 Ark. LEXIS 542
Supreme Court of Arkansas·Decided April 16, 1917·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

Smith, J.

This appeal is prosecuted to reverse a judgment sentencing appellant to the penitentiary for the period of one year, for the crime of grand larceny, alleged to have been committed by stealing certain hogs, the property of one Abe Brown; and we discuss the assignments of error in the order in which they are presented in appellant’s brief.

(1) It is first said that error was committed in refusing to grant a continuance for the purpose of securing the attendance of one Frank Pickard, who, according to the recitals of the motion for a continuance, would have given material evidence in support of appellant’s plea of not guilty. It appears, however, that appellant was indicted January 21,1916, and that the ease was not called for trial until January 16,1917, and there is no intimation that appellant did not have practically all this time to prepare for his defense, and the subpoena for this witness was issued in this case only two days before the trial. A subpoena, however, had been issued in the case of Barley Starnes, who was also indicted for the larceny of the same hogs, but this subpoena was only placed in the hands of the sheriff of the county five or six days before the trial, and, from recitals in the motion for a continuance, it appears that appellant knew the witness had departed for another county, but it was alleged that he was then only temporarily absent, and would return in about four days, as the affiant was informed and believed. We can not say, under these circumstances, that the court abused its discretion in holding that appellant had not made a sufficient showing of diligence to entitle him to a continuance. Baldwin v. State, 119 Ark. 518.

(2) Appellant complains of the action of the court in giving an instruction numbered 7. But he has failed to incorporate in his motion for a new trial an objection to this instruction; and we can not now consider this assignment of error. Mabry v. State, 80 Ark. 345; Burris v. State, 73 Ark. 453; Ince v. State, 77 Ark. 418.

It was shown at the .trial that witnesses Tyler and Catt had helped appellant drive certain hogs, which Brown claimed to own, to appellant’s house, it being the theory of the State that the appellant got the hogs to his house in this manner. Appellant requested the following instruction:

‘ ‘ If, after a full consideration of all the evidence, you have a reasonabe doubt that the hogs which the witnesses, Quinn Tyler and Oliver Catt, say they helped the defendant drive from the field of Abe Brown, were the property of Abe Brown, then you should find the defendant not guilty.” . ■

(3) The refusal to give this instruction is assigned as error. We think, however, that this was not prejudicial, because the State is not required to prove each circumstance tending to show guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The evidence is legally sufficient for that purpose, if, upon a consideration of it as a whole, it is sufficient to convince, and does convince, the jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, of the guilt of the accused. Lasater v. State, 77 Ark. 468.

An instruction was given which very plainly told the jury to acquit the accused, if, upon a consideration of all the evidence in the case, a reasonable doubt was entertained as to his guilt, and no error, therefore, was committed in the refusal to give the instruction requested by appellant.

(4) Appellant did not testify at his trial, and, in the concluding argument, the prosecuting attorney said:

“The defendant has not denied a single allegation of the indictment. ’ ’

Whereupon objection was immmediately made to this argument, and the court was requested to rebuke counsel in the presence of the jury for having made the remark quoted. This was not done, but the court gave an additional instruction to the following effect:

“No. 12. The statute of this State confers upon one accused of crime the right to testify in his own behalf, if he so desires; but if he does not see fit to take advantage of the right given to him, you are not to infer his guilt on account of that. You will determine the question of his guilt or innocence from all the facts and circumstances in proof before you. After having determined the facts, you will then apply the instructions applicable to the facts as you may find them, and render your verdict accordingly.”

The court had previously given an instruction numbered 2, which reads as follows:

“No. 2. To this indictment the defendant pleads not guilty, and this plea puts in issue all the material allegations of the indictment. The indictment in itself raises no presumption of guilt against the defendant, but it is only an accusation for you to try. On the contrary, the defendant is presumed to be innocent until his guilt is established by the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, and the burden of so establishing such guilt is upon the State.”

It is, of course, improper, and presumptively prejudicial, for the prosecuting attorney to call the attention of the jury to the failure of the accused to testify. But the instructions given before this remark was made, and the instructions set out above given immediately thereafter, were sufficient, in our opinion, to remove any prejudice resulting from this remark. These instructions made it plain that the defendant was not required to deny his guilt, and that no inferences of guilt could be drawn from his failure to testify. Ingram v. State, 110 Ark. 538.

The appellant requested an instruction on this subject, which the court refused; but as it embodied substantially the idea set out in the instruction quoted, no error was committed in refusing that instruction, as the court is not required to multiply instructions upon the same issue, when the ones given fully and fairly declare the law applicable to the issue.

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Starnes v. State, 194 S.W. 506, 128 Ark. 302, 1917 Ark. LEXIS 542 (Ark. 1917).

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