Twilley v. State

Alabama Court of Appeals

Twilley v. State

101 So. 505, 20 Ala. App. 263, 1924 Ala. App. LEXIS 271

CourtAlabama Court of Appeals

DecidedOctober 7, 1924

Docket7 Div. 19.

StatusPublished

Cited by1 cases

This text of 101 So. 505 (Twilley v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Alabama Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Twilley v. State, 101 So. 505, 20 Ala. App. 263, 1924 Ala. App. LEXIS 271 (Ala. Ct. App. 1924).

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Opinion

BRICKEN, P. J.

A careful reading of all the testimony in this case fails to disclose any evidence showirig or tending to show that the corpus delicti of the offense charged in the first count of the indictment had been proven. The conviction of this defendant *264 was therefore improper, there being no evidence sufficient to create even a "suspicion that the accused distilled, made or manufactured prohibited liquors. It would be inordinate and unconscionable to permit a judgment predicated upon such testimony to stand in a court of justice. The burden of proof required in a criminal prosecution was not met by the state. The defendant was entitled to the affirmative charge requested in writing as to count 1 of the indictment. The court gave such charge as to count 2. Moon v. State, 19 Ala. App. 176, 95 So. 830. The facts in the Moon Case, supra, were much stronger against the defendant than the facts in the case at bar, and in that case this court reversed the judgment of conviction because of the insufficiency of the evidence to sustain it. The conviction of the defendant in this case must have .rested upon the merest conjecture, speculation or suspicion, although the evidence barely rises to the dignity of either. The judgment of conviction appealed from is reversed and the cause remanded.

- Reversed and remanded.

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BRICKEN, P. J.

A careful reading of all the testimony in this case fails to disclose any evidence showirig or tending to show that the corpus delicti of the offense charged in the first count of the indictment had been proven. The conviction of this defendant *264 was therefore improper, there being no evidence sufficient to create even a "suspicion that the accused distilled, made or manufactured prohibited liquors. It would be inordinate and unconscionable to permit a judgment predicated upon such testimony to stand in a court of justice. The burden of proof required in a criminal prosecution was not met by the state. The defendant was entitled to the affirmative charge requested in writing as to count 1 of the indictment. The court gave such charge as to count 2. Moon v. State, 19 Ala. App. 176, 95 So. 830. The facts in the Moon Case, supra, were much stronger against the defendant than the facts in the case at bar, and in that case this court reversed the judgment of conviction because of the insufficiency of the evidence to sustain it. The conviction of the defendant in this case must have .rested upon the merest conjecture, speculation or suspicion, although the evidence barely rises to the dignity of either. The judgment of conviction appealed from is reversed and the cause remanded.

- Reversed and remanded.

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Bluebook (online)

101 So. 505, 20 Ala. App. 263, 1924 Ala. App. LEXIS 271, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/twilley-v-state-alactapp-1924.

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