Boatright v. State

• Decision Date: 17 June 1931
• Docket Number: No. 14320.,14320.
• Citation: 42 S.W.2d 422
• Parties: BOATRIGHT v. STATE.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

42 S.W.2d 422

BOATRIGHT v. STATE.

No. 14320.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

June 17, 1931.

Rehearing Denied October 21, 1931.

Appeal from District Court, Dawson County; Gordon B. McGuire, Judge.

Ernest Boatright was convicted of rape, and he appeals.

Affirmed.

Murchison, Davis & Murchison, of Haskell, for appellant.

Lloyd W. Davidson, State's Atty., of Austin, for the State.

MORROW, P. J.

The conviction is for the offense of rape; penalty assessed at confinement in the penitentiary for a period of five years.

The state's testimony is, in substance, as follows: Nina Swindle, a girl eighteen years of age, was the subject of the assault. She and the appellant, a young man twenty-one years of age, met for the first time on November 15, 1930, at an entertainment in the home of a neighbor of the prosecutrix. Upon that occasion, an engagement was made to go to a picture show at Lamesa, about six miles distant, on the night of November 17th. The alleged assault took place on their return from the picture show. She was assaulted and ravished while she and the appellant were in his automobile. The car was stopped at a lonely place on the road. After the occurrence, they went together to her home and arrived near midnight. On the following morning, between four and five o'clock, she reported the occurrence to her father and mother. Her clothes were examined and bore evidence of the transaction. The assault was reported to the officers, and an examination of the prosecutrix was made by a doctor, whose testimony was to the effect that his examination showed a laceration of the vaginal outlet and a lacerated hymen clotted with blood. There was evidence of the entry of the vagina by some foreign object within twenty-four hours previous to the examination. The girl admitted that on the night of their first meeting, she and the appellant sat in his car near the house, and permitted him to take a diamond ring from her finger, and submitted to his kissing her. It was then that the engagement was made to attend the picture show two days later.

The appellant's testimony is to the effect that the prosecutrix submitted to the act of intercourse voluntarily; that all he did was with her consent, and that on their way home after the act of intercourse she consented to a subsequent engagement. This she admitted with the explanation that it was through fear.

Such weaknesses in the testimony as would warrant this court in declaring that as a matter of law the evidence was not sufficient to support the verdict have not been perceived in the record.

Each of the precedents cited by the appellant are distinguishable on the facts from the present case.

In Price's Case, 36 Tex. Cr. R. 143, 35 S. W. 988, the prosecutrix suppressed the alleged assault until her condition advised the members of her family of her pregnancy.

In Arnett's Case, 40 Tex. Cr. R. 617, 51 S. W. 385, the prosecutrix was without corroboration, and the physical facts combated the accuracy of her story. Her testimony was contradictory. The case was reversed by a divided court.

In the Perez Case, 50 Tex. Cr. R. 34, 94 S. W. 1036, the occurrence was within a few yards of a gang of laborers. The prosecutrix had two men protectors. It was claimed that these were put under duress. She made no outcry such as would attract the attention of persons nearby, and, according to her own testimony, the prosecutrix made no such resistance as the occasion demanded.

In Rushing's Case (Tex. Cr. App.) 80 S. W. 527, the evidence was regarded by the court as insufficient to show that there was copulation.

The Rogers' Case, 88 Tex. Cr. R. 109, 225 S. W. 57, was not reversed upon the insufficiency of the evidence, though in discussing that phase of the appeal, it was shown that the prosecutrix made no report of the assault to her family, and was uncorroborated.

In the motion for new trial, the claim is made that reversible error occurred in the examination of talesmen by the court in the absence of the appellant. Of the evidence for the accused, the following is a summary: After the state and the accused had announced ready for trial and a special venire of fifty men were exhausted, the sheriff was ordered to summon twelve more. These were seated in the box, sworn and questioned touching their qualifications and with reference to any excuse they might have to offer. The sheriff was instructed in open court to retire the jurors and call them for examination one at a time. It was not until they were so called or examined individually that the appellant was brought into the courtroom. When recalled, they were reexamined with reference to their qualifications. On behalf of the state, the judge testified, in substance, as follows: When the twelve men reported, the attorney for the state and the appellant were present. He stated to the attorney for the appellant: "I believe I will qualify these twelve instead of taking them one by one." The attorney for the appellant said that would be all right as it would save time. The judge then called the twelve men into the courtroom, where they were sworn and interrogated as to their qualifications. They were all...