State v. Taylor

67 S.W. 672, 93 Mo. App. 327, 1902 Mo. App. LEXIS 376
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 18, 1902
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 67 S.W. 672 (State v. Taylor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Taylor, 67 S.W. 672, 93 Mo. App. 327, 1902 Mo. App. LEXIS 376 (Mo. Ct. App. 1902).

Opinion

BLAND, P. J.

— At the December, 1901, term of the Taney Circuit Court, and on the sixth day of December, there was filed in the court the following affidavit:

“John L. Morrow, first being duly sworn upon oatn says: That at the county of Taney and State of Missouri, on or about the twenty-seventh day of May, 1901, one George L. Taylor, being then and there duly elected and qualified prosecuting attorney within and for said Taney county, Missouri, and while in the exercise of his duties as such prosecuting attorney, did then and there become unlawfully intoxicated while in the performance of his official duty in and about the prosecution of a certain criminal ease in the justice court of J. L. Morrow, a justice of the peace within and for Swan township, Taney county, Missouri, wherein the State of Missouri was plaintiff and "W. J. Williams was defendant on an information filed in said court charging the said defendant with a misdemeanor, and was so intoxicated at and during the trial of said cause in said justice court, while in the performance of his official duty in the prosecution of the same as to be incapacitated and incompetent, against the peace and dignity of the State. '
“J. L. Morrow.
“Subscribed and sworn to before me this fifth day of December, 1901.
“J. O. L. McKnight, Notary Public.”

On the filing of the affidavit the court made the following order:

[330]*330“Whereas, complaint and affidavit having been filed in this court by J. L. Morrow, charging George L. Taylor prosecuting attorney of Taney county, Missouri, with drunkenness in office, and said complaint and affidavit having been examined and fully understood by the court, it is ordered by the court that said complaint and affidavit be filed by the clerk and that S. G. Wood, an attorney of this county, be and he is hereby appointed a special prosecuting attorney to investigate and prosecute said Geo. L. Taylor on said charge; to which order of the court defendant objected at the time, and said objection being overruled, • defendant then and there excepted at the time; and thereupon, on the said sixth day of December, 1901, the said S. G. Wood, Esq., acting as said special prosecuting attorney, filed his information in words as follows:
“In the circuit court of Taney county, Missouri, October adjourned term, 1901.
“S. G. Wood, the duly appointed, qualified and acting prosecuting attorney within and for Taney county, Missouri, appointed by the circuit court of Taney county, Missouri, within the thirty-first judicial circuit of Missouri, to prosecute a certain action wherein the State of Missouri is plaintiff and George L. Taylor is defendant, and who prosecutes said plea on behalf of said State of Missouri, on his oath of office and on the complaint of J. L. Morrow informs the court that on or about the first day of January, 1901, at the county of Taney and State of Missouri, George L. Taylor was and thenceforward has been a public officer, to-wit, prosecuting attorney within and for the county of Taney and State of Missouri, and his term of office continues until the first day of January, 1903, and as such prosecuting attorney it became and was the duty of said George L. Taylor to represent the State of Missouri and for and on behalf of said State to prose[331]*331cute all criminal cases, prosecutions, proceedings, informations and indictments pending in the circuit or other courts of said county for trial or disposition; and the said George L. Taylor being such prosecuting attorney on or about the twenty-seventh day of May, 1901, in a certain trial and criminal prosecution pending before John L: Morrow, a duly qualified and acting justice of the peace within and for Swan township, Taney county, State aforesaid, did then and there unlawfully become and was intoxicated while in the performance of his official duty in and about the prosecution of a certain criminal case in said justice court pending, wherein the State of Missouri was plaintiff and W. J. Williams was defendant, on an information for a misdemeanor, to-wit, wife-beating and disturbing the peace, and was so intoxicated at and during the trial of said cause in said justice court, and while in the performance of his official duty in the prosecution of the same, against the peace and dignity of the State.
(Signed) “S. G. Wood,
“Special Prosecuting Attorney.
“Subscribed and sworn to before me this sixth day of December, 1901.
“J. 0. Johnson,
“Clerk Circuit Court.”

The cause was tried at the same term of court resulting in a verdict of guilty and an assessment of defendant’s punishment at a fine of fifty dollars.

On the return of the verdict the court rendered judgment against defendant in accordance therewith and a further judgment removing defendant from his office as prosecuting attorney of Taney county, and declaring the office vacant. After unsuccessful motions for new trial, and in arrest of judgment, defendant appealed.

The evidence on the part of the State is that defendant was the duly commissioned prosecuting attorney of Taney [332]*332■county and that he was acting as such; that while he was so •commissioned and acting, a prosecution had been duly commenced before J. L. Morrow, a justice of the peace in and for said county, by affidavit and information, charging one "W. J. Williams of an assault upon Elizabeth Williams, his wife; that the cause was set for trial on May 21, 1901; that on said day the defendant, Williams, was present in the custody of the constable and that the prosecuting witness and other witnesses for the State were also present and that the defendant was present'in his official capacity to prosecute the case.

Eor the State the evidence further tends to prove that when the justice was ready to take the cause up for trial, he sent for the defendant to prosecute the cause; that the defendant was at a near-by restaurant in bed. He was called up and went with the messenger to the justice’s office; that when he arrived there he was so intoxicated that when he undertook to enter the door of the justice’s court he missed it and ran against the wall at one side, that after he got into the office he took a seat. The justice told him that he was ready to try the case. Defendant then had Williams arraigned, who entered a plea of not guilty. Defendant then ordered the witnesses called. The justice then asked him to proceed with the case, but he was so stupid from intoxication that he was unable to proceed and for this reason the justice dismissed the ■cause and discharged defendant.

There was countervailing evidence offered by the defendant tending to prove that he was not intoxicated; that he had investigated the case and ascertained that Elizabeth Williams had not been abused by her husband and that she declared she would not testify against him, and that the justice dismissed the case on his own motion.

There was abundant evidence on the part of the State to warrant the conviction and there was evidence on the part of defendant to have justified his acquittal, had the jury [333]*333believed his witnesses. It was the peculiar province of the jury to judge of the credibility of the witnesses and to draw a correct conclusion from all the evidence.

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Related

State v. White
153 S.W. 523 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1913)
Dixon v. Dixon
82 S.W. 547 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1904)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 S.W. 672, 93 Mo. App. 327, 1902 Mo. App. LEXIS 376, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-taylor-moctapp-1902.