Bray v. State
| Decision Date | 19 December 1901 |
| Citation | 31 So. 107,131 Ala. 46 |
| Parties | BRAY v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Appeal from circuit court, Walker county; A. A. Coleman, Judge.
Oliver Bray was convicted of rape, and he appeals. Reversed.
Leith & Sherer, for appellant.
Chas. G. Brown, Atty. Gen., for the State.
Where, in prosecutions for rape, the woman assaulted has testified to the commission of the offense, the state may, in corroboration of her testimony as to the main fact, prove also that recently after the outrage she made complaint to those to whom complaint of such an occurrence would naturally be made. On direct examination such testimony is confined to the bare fact of complaint, and details of the occurrence, including the identity of the person accused, are not proper subjects of inquiry. In such case the state is not privileged to prove that the woman complained that any particular person assaulted her until after the defendant has brought out particulars of the complaint, or has introduced evidence tending to impeach the witness who testifies to the complaint. Barnett v. State, 83 Ala. 40, 3 So. 612; Griffin v. State, 76 Ala. 29; Barnes v. State, 88 Ala. 204, 7 So. 38, 16 Am. St. Rep. 48; 3 Greenl. Ev. § 213. In the present case this rule was violated by the court's action in overruling defendant's objection to the question addressed to the prosecutrix as to whether she told any one other than Mrs. Bray what the "defendant" had done to her. The affirmative answer elicited by the question was calculated to prejudice the defendant's case, and the error of its admission requires a reversal of the judgment.
Reversed and remanded.
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Custer v. State
... ... the facts complained of. Such evidence is merely to rebut the ... inference of consent that might be drawn from her silence ... See 52 C.J. 1063 to 1065, inclusive; Ellis v. State, ... 25 Fla. 702, 6 So. 768, 770 and cases there cited; People ... v. Wilmot, 139 Cal. 103, 72 P. 838; Bray v ... State, 131 Ala. 46, 31 So. 107; State v ... Bateman, 198 Mo. 212, 94 S.W. 843; State v ... Lawhorn, 250 Mo. 293, 306, 157 S.W. 344 ... The ... testimony was not admissible as a part of the res gestae ... because it occurred some appreciable time after the alleged ... ...
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Aaron v. State, 3 Div. 955
...Barnett v. State, 83 Ala. 40, 3 So. 612, and have been followed or restated in other cases. See Griffin v. State, 76 Ala. 29; Bray v. State, 131 Ala. 46, 31 So. 107; Allford v. State, 244 Ala. 148, 12 So.2d 407; Lee v. State, 246 Ala. 69, 18 So.2d 706; Huggins v. State, 271 Ala. 428, 123 So......
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Brooks v. State
... ... witness only that the woman on whom the assault is alleged to ... have been committed made complaint of the occurrence ... generally, and that the state is not privileged to prove any ... of the details or that she stated in the complaint that any ... particular person assaulted her. Bray v. State, 131 ... Ala. 46, 31 So. 107; Oakley v. State, 135 Ala. 15, ... 33 So. 23; Gaines v. State, 167 Ala. 70, 52 So. 643 ... But it has been held that it is competent to prove, not only ... the complaint, but also its character (Leoni v ... State, 44 Ala. 110, 113), and that, "of course, ... ...
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Huggins v. State
...Barnett v. State, 83 Ala. 40, 44, 3 So. 612, 614. See also: Lacy v. State, 45 Ala. 80; Scott v. State, 48 Ala. 420; Bray v. State, 131 Ala. 46, 31 So. 107; Oakley v. State, 135 Ala. 15, 33 So. 23; Posey v. State, 143 Ala. 54, 38 So. 1019; Gaines v. State, 167 Ala. 70, 52 So. 643; Lee v. Sta......