State v. Bolyn

141 S.E. 165, 143 S.C. 63, 1928 S.C. LEXIS 4
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
DecidedJanuary 4, 1928
Docket12344
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 141 S.E. 165 (State v. Bolyn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bolyn, 141 S.E. 165, 143 S.C. 63, 1928 S.C. LEXIS 4 (S.C. 1928).

Opinion

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

Mr. Justice Carter.

The defendant, S. P. Bolyn, who was a director and cashier of the Planters’ Bank of Marion, S. C.’, at the time the said bank closed its doors for business, was charged under an indictment, containing two counts, with the violation of Section 134 of the Criminal Code in the first count, and willful perjury in the second count. The grand jury of Marion County returned a true bill on the indictment June 8, 1925, whereupon the defendant, by his counsel, moved to change the venue of the case for unwarranted prejudice against the defendant created through the closing of this bank. The motion was granted, and the case was transferred from Marion County to Horry County. On June 9, 1925, the case came on for a hearing before Hon. Sam T. Lanham, Special Judge, presiding in the Court of General Sessions for Horry County. When the case was called, the defendant moved for a continuance upon the grounds hereinafter referred to, which motion was refused. The defendant was then placed in the dock and subjected to formal arraignment. At the conclusion of the arraignment, the defendant moved to quash the indictment as to both counts, and also demurred to the indictment, which motions the special presiding Judge overruled and ordered the arraignment to proceed. The defendant then, through his counsel, moved the Court to require the State to elect upon which count it would proceed. This motion his Honor also overruled and ordered a jury impaneled. The evidence offered by the State was taken subject to objection, from time to time, *76 duly noted. At the conclusion of the state’s case, the defendant, through his counsel, moved for a direction of a verdict. The motion was refused, whereupon the defendant introduced his testimony, and, at the conclusion of which, the defendant duly submitted certain requests to charge. Upon the case being submitted to the jury, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. A motion for a new trial was made on behalf of the defendant, but the motion was refused and the defendant was sentenced to pay a fine of $1,000 and serve a period of 6 months in the State Penitentiary. The defendant has appealed to this Court, imputing error to his Honor the presiding Judge in the particulars set forth under his exceptions.

*77 *76 Under the first exception, the defendant alleges that his Honor the presiding Judge erred in ordering the case to trial, the defendant having moved for a continuance of the case until the following morning upon the ground that the assistant state bank examiner, Mr. Frank H. Daniel, who. had the bank under his supervision for several months before and immediately preceding the closing of the same, had been subpoenaed as a witness for the State, and for that reason had not been subpoenaed by the defense, stating to the Court that counsel for the defense had just learned that Mr. Daniel was not present, and that Mr. Daniel wa.s a most vital, material witness for the defense. The record bears out this statement of facts. Counsel for the State stated to the Court that Mr. Daniel had been subpoenaed by the State, but that he had excused Mr. Daniel from attending Court in order that Mr. Daniel might go to New York to fill an engagement, stating that he did not know that counsel for the defense desired Mr. Daniel as a witness, and stated further that the State had the documents and another official present. While the Court fully appreciates the “consternation” experienced by the defendant’s counsel in having to go to trial without the presence of this *77 witnesSj and also appreciates the great disadvantage to which the defendant probably was placed, the witness having not been subpoenaed by the defense to testify for and on behalf of the defense, this Court cannot hold that the presiding Judge abused his discretion in refusing defendant’s motion. To so hold would establish a dangerous precedent which would likely lead to great harm and abuse. The well-recognized rule required the defendant to subpoena the witness for the defense. Therefore this exception is overruled. The second, third, fourth, and fifth exceptions impute error to his Honor the presiding Judge in refusing defendant’s motion to quash the indictment and in overruling the demurrer to the indictment. While we are of the opinion that the indictment should have contained additional allegations — for instance, both counts should have given the name of the official who administered the oath the defendant is alleged to have taken, and the second count, in addition, should have alleged facts sufficient to enable the defendant to know whether he was to be tried for common-law perjury or for the violation of some Section of the Code — a careful reading of the record convinces us that the defendant was not prejudiced by the absence of this information in the indictment. Therefore these exceptions are overruled.

The sixth exception, which imputes error to his Honor in overruling defendant’s motion to require the State to elect upon which count in the indictment it would proceed to trial, cannot be sustained under the decisions of this Court, and defendant’s counsel properly does not press the exception further. The same is therefore overruled. See the following decisions of this Court: State v. Nelson, 14 Rich., 169; 94 Am. Dec., 130; State v. Scott, 15 S. C., 434; State v. Sheppard, 54 S. C., 178; 32 S. E., 146; State v. Bouknight, 55 S. C., 353; 33 S. E., 451; 74 Am. St. Rep., 751; State v. Woodard, 38 S. C., 353; 17 S. E., 135; State v. Hutchings, 24 S. C., 142; State v. *78 Smith, 18 S. C., 149; State v. Sharpe, 132 S. C., 236; 128 S. E., 722; State v. Jones, 86 S. C., 17; 67 S. E., 160.

The seventh exception imputes error tO' the presiding Judge “in admitting in evidence the books and records of the bank, consisting of Exhibits C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, N, Y, and Z, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, over objection of defendant, because of the total absence of evidence tending to show that such records had been made by the defendant.” An examination of the transcript of record discloses that, while these books and records admitted in evidence over the objection of the defendant purported to constitute the books and records of the bank, there is no proof that the defendant made the entries therein contained. The witness O. K. La Roque, a witness for the State, testified that he had been officially connected with this bank as liquidating agent for the receiver, the state bank examiner, since January, 1925, and was at the time of the trial still occupying that position, and that, as a representative of the bank examiner of this State, he had custody of the documents of the Planters’ Bank in his possession. This witness further testified that the defendant was in temporary charge of the bank as a representative, he assumed, of the state bank examiner, and turned these books and records over to him, the witness, Mr. La Roque. On this showing, the books and records were admitted in evidence over the objection of the defendant.

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Bluebook (online)
141 S.E. 165, 143 S.C. 63, 1928 S.C. LEXIS 4, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bolyn-sc-1928.