Crandall v. State

Decision Date16 November 1960
Docket NumberNo. 32227,32227
Citation340 S.W.2d 36,170 Tex.Crim. 229
PartiesRonald Wayne CRANDALL, Appellant, v. STATE of Texas, Appellee.
CourtTexas Court of Criminal Appeals

M. Gabriel Nahas, Jr., Houston, for appellant.

Dan Walton, Dist. Atty., Samuel H. Robertson, Jr., Carol S. Vance, Asst. Dist. Attys., Houston, and Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.

WOODLEY, Judge.

The offense is felony theft; the punishment, 3 years.

Two brief cases were stolen from an automobile which contained over $4,000 in currency and a larger amount in checks.

The money and checks, and others, had been turned over to Flem Clark to be taken to banks to be deposited to the account of his employer, Eddy Refining Company and its affiliate, the Key Oil Company.

Appellant and his co-indictees Elliott and Baker were arrested the following day in Louisiana. Some $2,586 was found in appellant's pocket and some $2,400 was found between the box spring and mattress in the Tourist Court room which his companions had occupied.

Appellant had been employed by the same company and had acted as messenger in making similar deposits.

Appellant's co-indictee Elliott testified as a witness for the state that appellant called him on the telephone and stated 'We just came from the oil company.' His further testimony included the following:

Learning that Elliott was alone, appellant and Baker arrived at his home shortly with two brief cases containing money and checks. After sorting the contents, the three went to an oil field near Burbanks and burned the checks and brief cases, and after visiting a couple of lounges, headed for Louisiana in appellant's automobile. Arriving in Lake Charles, appellant got out at his ex-wife's house and Baker and the witness Elliott went to the Tourist Court where the three were arrested the next day. After being returned to Houston he pointed out to the officers where the checks and brief cases had been burned.

It is apparent that these facts stated by the witness Elliott were not injurious to the state's case.

The attorney representing the state, however, pleaded surprise and was permitted to impeach the witness Elliott by his statement made to a police officer wherein he stated that, in the telephone conversation, appellant's statement was 'that he and Harold B. Baker had just 'hit' the oil company deposit man.'

Art. 732 Vernon's Ann.C.C.P. modifies the rule that a party introducing a witness shall not attack his testimony, but permits...

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8 cases
  • Goodman v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • March 14, 1984
    ...Zanders v. State, 480 S.W.2d 708 (Tex.Cr.App.1972); Bostick v. State, 363 S.W.2d 474 (Tex.Cr.App.1962); Crandall v. State, 170 Tex.Cr.R. 229, 340 S.W.2d 36 (1960); Thrash v. State, 170 Tex.Cr.R. 97, 338 S.W.2d 447 (1960); Reltan v. State, 167 Tex.Cr.R. 649, 322 S.W.2d 529 (1959). The attorn......
  • Wall v. State, 40473
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • June 28, 1967
    ...that the witness merely fails to testify as expected or to remember facts favorable to the party calling the witness. Crandall v. State, 170 Tex.Cr.R. 229, 340 S.W.2d 36. If the State, as in the case at bar, has offered no evidence to prove a relevant fact, it cannot be said that its witnes......
  • Wood v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • June 26, 1974
    ...the witness merely fails to testify as expected or to remember facts favorable to the party calling the witness. Crandall v. State, 170 Tex.Cr.R. 229, 340 S.W.2d 36 (1960); Wall v. State, 'In other words, notwithstanding that the party is surprised thereby, it is not enough that the witness......
  • Lewis v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • February 6, 1980
    ...708 (Tex.Cr.App.1972); Perkins v. State, 433 S.W.2d 712 (Tex.Cr.App.1968); Wall v. State, 417 S.W.2d 59 (1967); Crandall v. State, 170 Tex.Cr.R. 229, 340 S.W.2d 36 (1960) and Mims v. State, 159 Tex.Cr.R. 180, 261 S.W.2d 727 In the instant case, as in Smith v. State, supra, we cannot say tha......
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