Byers v. State

Decision Date05 February 1929
Docket Number7 Div. 496.
PartiesBYERS v. STATE.
CourtAlabama Court of Appeals

Rehearing Denied Feb. 26, 1929.

Appeal from Circuit Court, St. Clair County; Woodson J. Martin, Judge.

Jim Byers was convicted of possessing a still, and he appeals. Affirmed.

Certiorari denied by Supreme Court in Byers v. State, 121 So. 9.

Frank B. Embry, of Pell City, for appellant.

Charlie C. McCall, Atty. Gen., for the State.

SAMFORD, J.

Motion was made by defendant for a continuance of his case on the ground that jurors from which he was to select a jury were present in court and heard the testimony in the case of State v. Caldwell, in which Caldwell was being tried for the unlawful possession of the still here involved. Upon examination it was ascertained that four of the jurors on the regular panel were present and heard the testimony in the Caldwell Case, but they each said that they had not formed or expressed an opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The granting of a continuance under these facts was within the sound discretion of the court. Sandlin v. State, 19 Ala. App. 583, 99 So. 784; Cline v. State, 20 Ala. App. 578, 104 So. 347; Sanders v. State, 22 Ala. App. 358, 116 So. 329.

Refused charge, which we have numbered 4, is an argument pure and simple.

Refused charge, which we have numbered 6, is confusing and has a tendency to mislead. The jury was fully charged upon the law of reasonable doubt. Such charges as No. 6 are calculated to confuse the minds of the jury and should never be given.

Causes must be tried on the evidence adduced on the trial, and not on the absence of testimony. For this reason charge 5 was properly refused.

After the charges given at the request of the defendant were read to the jury, the court gave some explanations regarding them; but no exception was reserved to this, and hence this point is not considered.

We find no error in the record, and the judgment is affirmed.

Affirmed.

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6 cases
  • Shouse v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • 28 Octubre 1952
    ...of the above authorities. In any event, in more recent cases the appellate courts have departed from this former holding. Byers v. State, 23 Ala.App. 70, 121 So. 8, certiorari denied 219 Ala. 10, 121 So. 9; Nelson v. State, 35 Ala.App. 1, 46 So.2d 231, certiorari denied 253 Ala. 666, 46 So.......
  • Smiley v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • 23 Abril 1974
    ...innocence of the defendant, the jury must acquit the defendant.' This charge has been held had in several cases, including Byers v. State, 23 Ala.App. 70, 121 So. 8; Griffin v. State, 150 Ala. 49, 43 So. 197; Chastain v. State, 36 Ala.App. 186, 54 So.2d 623; Stafford v. State, 33 Ala.App. 1......
  • Hubbard v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • 14 Agosto 1984
    ...So.2d 722 (1952), cert. denied, 258 Ala. 499, 63 So.2d 728 (1953). The refused charge "is an argument pure and simple." Byers v. State, 23 Ala.App. 70, 71, 121 So. 8, cert. denied, 219 Ala. 10, 121 So. 9 (1929). This charge is "faulty in that it was not predicated on reasonable hypothesis o......
  • Gray v. State, 8 Div. 743
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • 10 Enero 1956
    ...was not error as the jury had been properly instructed as to the law of reasonable doubt. The charge was also misleading. Byers v. State, 23 Ala.App. 70, 121 So. 8, 9, certiorari denied 219 Ala. 10, 121 So. Requested charge B was refused without error. So much of the charge as related to th......
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