Balli v. State, 32407
| Decision Date | 16 November 1960 |
| Docket Number | No. 32407,32407 |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
| Parties | Juan BALLI, Appellant, v. STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
Billy Hall, Littlefield, for appellant.
Curtis R. Wilkinson, County Atty., Littlefield, and Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
The offense is transportation of beer and whiskey in a dry area; the punishment, one year in jail and a fine of $1,000.
Deputy Sheriff Smith testified that he was parked a short distance from a highway intersection near the town of Amherst in Lamb County during the early morning hours of the night in question when he saw a truck approach the intersection, that he pulled in behind the truck and followed it for several miles, during which time the truck ran through a stop sign and finally came to a halt near a farm house. He stated that the lights of his automobile were shining in the cab of the truck, that appellant, the only occupant, got out of the truck, and when he started to get out of his automobile appellant ran away in the darkness and he was unable to apprehend him. He did, however, positively identify appellant as the driver of the truck. Upon his return to the truck after his fruitless chase, he found that it contained 500 cases of beer and 2 cases of whiskey. It was established that Lamb County was dry, and the custody of the beer and whiskey introduced in evidence was traced. With this, the State rested.
Appellant did not testify, but called three witnesses who testified that he was in Lubbock on the night in question.
In rebuttal, the State called the witness Stagner, who lived near the town of Amherst and who testified that a Latin-American of the same general appearance as appellant came to his house on foot early in the morning of the day following the night in question, said that he had a flat on his truck, and called Lubbock long distance, the conversation being in Spanish. Stagner further testified that on the following day he went to the office of the sheriff of Lamb County and there identified a man in custody as being the man who had used his telephone the day before. It was shown that during the seven months since the offense and before the trial appellant had grown a mustache and had cut his hair shorter, and Stagner was not able to identify the man on trial as the one who had come to his house.
Sheriff Dyer testified that he had appellant in custody a day after the event in question and that Stagner came to his office and identified him as the man who had used his telephone.
We overrule appellant's contention that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction and that the court erred in not charging on the law of circumstantial evidence. Smith was positive in his identification, and no such charge was required. Reneau v. State, Tex.Civ.App., 321 S.W.2d 886.
Appellant objected to the court's charge on alibi. We find it substantially the...
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...the complaining witness has already given such testimony. Compare Reynolds v. State, 401 S.W.2d 249, 250 (1966), Balli v. State, 170 Tex.Cr.R. 390, 341 S.W.2d 443, 444 (1960), and Lucas v. State, 160 Tex.Cr.R. 443, 271 S.W.2d 821, 823-824 (1954) with Lyons v. State, 388 S.W.2d 950, 950-951 ......
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