State v. Holburn

121 N.W. 100, 23 S.D. 209, 1909 S.D. LEXIS 103
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedMay 7, 1909
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 121 N.W. 100 (State v. Holburn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Holburn, 121 N.W. 100, 23 S.D. 209, 1909 S.D. LEXIS 103 (S.D. 1909).

Opinion

WHITING, J.

'The appellant'herein was convicted in circuit court of the crime of grand larceny and has appealéd to this court from -the judgment of conviction and order denying a new triai. It was charged in the indictment that at the .time and place mentioned he did steal one certain gelding, described in said information, which gelding it was alleged was the property of Charles Hurlburt and Thomas Watson. Nio question is raised as to the sufficiency of the information, except certain questions raised concerning the name “Thomas Watson” as it appeared on said indictment, and as it also appeared indorsed on. said indictment as the ñame of one of the witnesses sworn and examined before the grand jury.

There are several assignments of error relied upon by the appellant; one of them claiming that the evidence was- insufficient to justify the verdict. A statement in full of the evidence herein would serve no useful purpose, and in disposing of this assignment we will only state that in our' opinion there was ample evidence received ,herein to support the verdict of the jury.

The appellant assigns as error the receiving, by the court, of the testimony of one Thomas Wasson; such testimony being received over the objection of such appellant, the said objection being because the name of such witness was not indorsed on the indictment, and appellant claiming .that he had no notice,of his being called until that time. Another assignment of error is based upon the alleged variance between the evidence and the allegations of the indictment, in that the indictment alleges “Thomas Watson” to be one of the owners of the stolen property, while the evidence would tend to show “Thomas Wasson” to be,such owner. We will consider, these two assignments together. The appellant in objecting to the witness Wasson did not claim that he was surprised or in any way prejudiced by his being called, except as such surprise and prejudice ¡might be inferred from his claim that he had received no notice that such witness was to be called. It appeared overwhelmingly by the witnesses that, while this party’s name was ‘‘Wasson,” he was quite generally known as “Watson”; in fact, judging from the name used by different witnesses 'in referring to this person, it would appear that he was more generally known as [211]*211“Watson” than ‘a,s “Wasson.” It also appears from his own testimony 'that in .the vicinity in which he w.as living and had been living he was commonly known by the name of “Watson.” Furthermore, if there could be any question as to whether or not the appellant was either surprised or prejudiced by the court’s allowing Wasson to testify, such question, it would seem, was entirely removed by the words of the defendant himself, wherein, in referring to this party, he referred to him as Watson when speaking of a conversation he had with him, using this name Watson three different times when referring to such witness. Appellant refers to certain South Dakota cases claiming they support his assignment of error; but none of them in our opinion bear upon the question herein, unless it may be the case of State v. Phelps, 5 S. D. 480, 59 N. W. 471, and to our mind what was therein stated by the learned justice writing such opinion directly supports the trial court herein. We think the following authorities fully and directly sustain the trial court: People v. Leong Quong, 60 Cal. 107; State v. Blakely, 83 Minn. 432, 86 N. W. 419; State v. Jones, 55 Minn. 329, 56 N. W. 1068; Bennett v. State, 62 Ark. 516, 36 S. W. 947.

The other assignments of error relied upon by appellant are treated in his brief under the one heading or ground of misconduct of the state’s attorney. In order to see the situation of appellant in this court under these assignments, it is necessary to notice the condition of the record, as errors, if any, must be presented to this court from the same view point ‘as they were presented to the trial court upon the motion for new trial.

During the course of the trial' one James Holburn, father of the defendant, was called as a witness on behalf of his son, and upon cross-examination he was asked the following question: “Mr. Holburn, you have been a witness for your so.n before, haven’t you, in-matters where he has gotten into trouble?” This question was objected ,to, among other grounds, on the ground that it was asked to “prejudice the jury.” There was no request made of the court asking that .it instruct the jury not to consider this question, or asking it to advise the jury that such question was improper. In fadt, there was no record upon the trial in relation to this matter, except as above. The abstract shows that error was not assigned [212]*212in the asking of the question by the state’s attorney, but the appellant says: “The'court erred in not advising the'jury that the state’s attorney was guilty of misconduct in their pres'ence when he propounded .the * * * question to the witness James Holburn.” If the (appellant considered that this matter w.as of enough importance .that he desired the jury advised in relation thereto, he should have requested such advice.

The next assignment of error treated under the head of misconduct /of state’s attorney is based upon the following facts: Upon cross-examinaition of appellant he was asked, after he had given his version of the facts of this case: “Was that the only time that you were in trouble, Mr. Holburn?” This question was objected to, as follows: “I object to that as not proper ¡cross-examination and incompetent.” Objection was overruled, exception t¡aken, and appellant answered: “No sir; that wasn’t all the trouble I have had.” The error assigned in ¡the abstract is to the overruling of the objection ito the above question. It will be noticed that upon the trial there was no claim of misconduct on the ¡part of the state’s attorney in asking this question, although it is presented under that heading here; but, considering the question and ruling on the grounds appearing in the abstract, can it be said that the calling out (of this answer, which in no way whatever indicates the nature or ¡class of -trouble, in any manner'prejudiced the defendant? We think not. ■

The next assignment of error relied upon by appellant under this heading of misconduct of state’s attorney is based upon the following ffacts: During his argument to the jury, the state’s attorney made the following statement: “This is one instance where Harry Holburn could ¡not buy off the witnesses and save the prosecution.” And then the assignment is as follows: “To which statement the def endant (by his attorney a‘t the time duly excepted, and the court failed or neglected to charge the jury in .relation thereto, and the same is here relied upon as error, prejudicial to the defendant.” From a reading of this assignment of error it would appear that the only .thing assigned as error was the failure and neglect of the court to charge the jury in relation thereto, and this assignment might well be disposed of, the same as the first assignment under [213]*213this heading, upon the ground that the trial .court was hever asked to instruct the jury in relation thereto; but, if there is sufficient to present to this court the question of whether or not the statement was improper and prejudicial, then it becomes material to inquire into the evidence to see what basis, if .any, there .was for this statement.

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Related

State v. Kindvall
191 N.W.2d 289 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1971)
State v. Jerke
38 N.W.2d 874 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1949)
State v. Glass
151 N.W. 229 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1915)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
121 N.W. 100, 23 S.D. 209, 1909 S.D. LEXIS 103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-holburn-sd-1909.