State v. Williams

35 So. 521, 111 La. 205, 1903 La. LEXIS 522
Supreme Court of Louisiana·Decided December 14, 1903·No. No. 14,976·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

BREAUX, J.

The defendant stood charged with shooting one Walter Williams, with the intent of killing and murdering him.

He was tried and found guilty of the lesser offense of shooting with intent to kill. From the verdict of the jury and the sentence of the court, fixing the penalty at two years in the penitentiary, he prosecutes this appeal.

[207]*207His points of defense on appeal are before us on a number of bills of exceptions and on motion for a new trial.

1.Defendant complains of the ruling of the trial judge which permitted a witness for the state to testify that he walked “into a gambling house.” This place was where the accused lived, and where the shooting charged took place.

The objection of accused, through his counsel, is that the testimony noted was an opinion and a conclusion which prejudiced the accused in his defense, and that in consequence it should not have been admitted.

We think a witness may testify as to the facts themselves, particularly when they are a mere incident. The, testimony was not a conclusion or deduction from facts. He stated as a fact that he entered “into a gambling house.” This had no direct bearing upon the guilt or innocence of defendant, nor was it a deduction from the facts shown.

An ordinary nonexpert witness (if he was a nonexpert) can be allowed to testify, as before stated.

The second ground of objection is very similar to the one upon which we have just expressed our opinion. It relates to the house of defendant, and to the question of the prosecuting attorney, “How long was this place running there?” referring to a room in the house, to which the defense objected on grounds not sufficiently legal to present any merit whatever. If it had any merit at all, it would be cured by the answer of the witness, who made the object of the.prosecuting attorney quite plain.

The trial judge stated in regard to this objection, made part of the bill of exceptions, that, “it having been testified to that the locus in quo was a gambling house, it was competent for the state to show how long it had been such place of public resort, and hence to ask the witness, ‘How long was this place running there?’ the reference being not to a room, eo nomine, at the residence of the accused, but to the running of a gambling house, which defendant contended was also his residence. In making his objection, counsel for defendant based same on the ground that T don’t know what he means by this place being running,’ in his bill, on the ground that the ruling of the court was prejudicial to the accused, both of which objections were equally insufficient and untenable.”

A view with which we concur.

2. We take up the next bill of exceptions for consideration.

The statement of the trial judge of the facts leaves nothing for our consideration.

This statement shows, and, under the jurisprudence of this court, it must be held correct, that “no objection was made; counsel merely saying, T desire to make his testimony part of my bill.’ ” We have none the less considered the ground of this objection. We do not think it is sufficient to afford any remedy on appeal.

We do not specifically state these grounds at length, because they enter into other bills of exceptions taken by defendant, and which we have decided adversely to his contention.

We are informed by the statement of the trial judge regarding the bills relating to the gambling house in question that the purpose of the prosecuting attorney was to prove that this room was one in which gambling was carried on, and that in consequence the wounded man was not to be considered as an intruder or trespasser at a home of another.

The right of ejectment from a saloon or public resort is different from that which may be exercised at home.

It follows, in this view, that it was proper for the court to allow testimony offered to prove that the place in question was one of public resort. We agree with that view. Many statutes regulate public resorts differently from private homes. Things might be said or done in a gambling house which should not for an instant be tolerated in the home; hence it is proper to admit the testimony offered.

The question comes up in another form in another bill of exception. We do not think it necessary to add to that which we have already said on this point and those incident to or connected with it.

3. This brings us to the next bill of exceptions in the record, in regard to which the judge states that it “was leveled at the answer of the witness, not at the question propounded, and that no request was made to instruct the jury to give it.no weight.”

The trial judge further states, in substance, that this answer, “It looked like the man [209]*209had fallen back in the door,” was not a conclusion, as we understand was urged by the defense, but a fact descriptive of the position in which the witness found the wounded man; that it could not aggravate the charge against defendant.

The facts regarding this point are stated by defendant’s counsel as follows:

“At the time that the state witness Julius Estelle was testifying, that defense objected to the said witness testifying that ‘it looked like a man fell back in the door’ (witness referring to the position in which the prosecuting witness fell after he was shot as being a conclusion on the part of the witness).”

The trial court said that it was not a conclusion, being merely descriptive, and was not prejudicial.

The court’s statement shows that this testimony was connected with and bore upon other facts and incidents of the case.

This is not a fact bearing upon the averred guilt of the defendant. It did not present an issue in this particular case which should have been left to the jury to decide. Whether admitted or excluded, it would have had no pertinency to the questions to be decided. All opinions having a tendency to prove that the accused is guilty or innocent are to be excluded, but, we may add, not those not even remotely connected with the deed charged, except to the extent it was necessary to prove where the crime charged had been committed, and to the extent it was necessary to prove whether committed in a public place or private house.

This court, in a comparatively recent case on appeal, treated this question in a manner which we think sustains our views here, and to which we in consequence refer. State v. Southern, 48 La. Ann. 628, 19 South. 668.

Again, in another bill of exceptions, the character of defendant’s house as a public resort is brought up in a manner not differing materially from the questions before decided, and for that reason we do not specially pass upon the issue a second time.

We will here state, however, the fact that the apartment in which was the gambling, and in which intoxicants were sold, was part of .defendant’s domicile, did not render testimony inadmissible to prove it.

Again, we agree with the trial judge and hold that there was no ground upon which to exclude the testimony offered to prove that gambling was carried on, as before mentioned.

4. An alleged leading question propounded by the prosecuting officer afforded no ground for another objection.

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State v. Williams, 35 So. 521, 111 La. 205, 1903 La. LEXIS 522 (La. 1903).

35 So. 521 (State v. Williams) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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