State v. Armstrong

• Decision Date: 14 May 1907
• Citation: 203 Mo. 554,102 S.W. 503
• Parties: STATE v. ARMSTRONG.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

102 S.W. 503

203 Mo. 554

STATE v. ARMSTRONG.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 2.

May 14, 1907.

1. CRIMINAL LAW—EVIDENCE—CONFESSIONS— PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE.

In a criminal prosecution, the testimony of witnesses that no inducements were held out to the defendant, and no threats made to bring about his confession, together with the presumption that the confession was freely made, until the contrary appears, was a satisfactory basis for its admission, notwithstanding defendant's testimony to the contrary.

2. SAME — PROMISES AND INDUCEMENTS — THREATS AND FEAR.

The fact that a confession was made to an officer, or in the presence of an officer after defendant had been arrested, is not sufficient to warrant the court in excluding the confession on the ground that undue influence was used, or threats made, or promises held out in order to secure it.

3. ELECTIONS—ILLEGAL VOTING—EVIDENCE — SUFFICIENCY.

In a criminal prosecution for illegal voting, evidence examined, and held sufficient to sustain the verdict.

Appeal from Criminal Court, Jackson County; B. J. Casteel, Special Judge.

Ed. Armstrong was convicted of illegal voting, and appeals. Affirmed.

This cause reaches this court by appeal on the part of the defendant from a judgment of the criminal court of Jackson county, convicting the defendant of the charge of fraudulently voting under the name and in the place of one Ben Trimble, who was a legally qualified and registered voter. The information was filed on the 27th of April, 1905, and the cause was continued until June, 1906, when Judge Wofford, the regular judge of that court, disqualified himself, and Judge Casteel was invited to try the case. The defendant was tried on the 7th of June, 1906. Upon the trial the evidence as introduced by the state tended to prove that on the 8th day of November, 1904, a general election was held in Kansas City, Mo., for the election of county and state officials; that one Ben Trimble was a duly qualified and registered voter of Kansas City, residing at 1406 East Fourteenth street, which was within the Sixth Precinct of the Ninth Ward of said city; that on said day the defendant appeared at said precinct, gave his name as Ben Trimble, asked for and procured a ballot, and returned the same to the judges, still saying that his name was Ben Trimble. Certain challengers present, having reason to believe that the defendant was not the person he claimed to be, followed him out into the alley and up behind a livery stable, where he stated to them and to the officers who went with them that his name was Ed. Armstrong. When asked if he had not voted in the name of Ben Trimble, the defendant denied the same. The defendant was arrested and taken to police headquarters, where he admitted to various persons that he had voted under the name of Ben Trimble, and thereupon made the following confession: "Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 9, 1904. My name is Ed. Armstrong. I was born in Independence, Mo. I live at 1609 E. Thirteenth street. I voted my right name in the Fifth Precinct of the Ninth Ward. I then drove to a livery stable at 1426 Virginia, with Jno. Brown, Walter King, another colored man, and two white men. One of the white men I took to be a Jew. In the livery stable he gave out cards to five or six colored men, among whom were Walter King and Jno. Brown, and told them he would pay them if they would impersonate those names and vote those named for the straight Democratic ticket. I had previously gotten my card from a white man out on the street. My card had the name of Ben Trimble, 1406 E. Fourteenth street. I went to the Sixth Precinct of the Ninth Ward with Jno. Brown, Walter King, another colored fellow, and this white man who gave out the slips. We drove to the livery stable in a surrey drawn by gray horses, and this man sat on the seat with the driver. At the polling place I voted the straight Democratic ticket in the name of Ben Trimble. The white man who gave out these slips in the livery stable, and who rode on the seat with the driver is the same man whom I asked while he was standing in front of the police box, at Fifteenth and Virginia, for tobacco with which to make a cigarette, and who informed me that he had no tobacco, and gave me a nickel to buy it. The gentleman whom I now see, and who claims to be Bob Owens, was standing near us at the time of this last occurrence, and afterwards talked to the man who gave me the nickel. Ed. Armstrong. Witnesses: J. E. Goodrich, A. O. Harrison, Buchholz,...