Jennings v. State
| Decision Date | 16 January 1918 |
| Docket Number | (No. 4761.) |
| Citation | 200 S.W. 169 |
| Parties | JENNINGS v. STATE. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Appeal from Smith County Court; W. R. Castle, Judge.
Jumbo Jennings was convicted of selling liquor in prohibition territory, and he appeals. Reversed.
E. B. Hendricks, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Appellant was convicted of the unlawful sale of intoxicating liquor in territory where the sale was prohibited by law. The offense was a misdemeanor, and the punishment fixed at a fine of $25 and 20 days' confinement in the county jail. The sale was proved by the state, denied by appellant, and the defense of alibi interposed. These issues were submitted to the jury in a charge which was not complained of.
The offense of pursuing the business of selling intoxicating liquor in prohibited territory being a felony, proof on cross-examination of appellant that he had been indicted therefor was legitimate for impeachment purposes, and his bill of exception complaining thereof is without merit. Branch's An. P. C. p. 101, § 167, and cases cited.
Proof that appellant had been charged in the federal court with the sale of intoxicating liquors without a license was not admissible for the purpose of impeaching him. It was a misdemeanor not imputing moral turpitude, and proof of this class of offenses has been frequently held inadmissible for the purpose of impeachment. Branch's An. P. C. pp. 102, 103, § 169; Shepherd v. State, 76 Tex. Cr. R. 307, 174 S. W. 609; Hightower v. State, 73 Tex. Cr. R. 258, 165 S. W. 186; Johnson v. State, 67 Tex. Cr. R. 441, 149 S. W. 165; Clay v. State, 65 Tex. Cr. R. 402, 144 S. W. 280; Kirksey v. State, 61 Tex. Cr. R. 298, 135 S. W. 124; Hightower v. State, 60 Tex. Cr. R. 109, 131 S. W. 324; Jennings v. State, 55 Tex. Cr. R. 147, 115 S. W. 587; Marks v. State, 78 S. W. 512; Lee v. State, 45 Tex. Cr. R. 51, 73 S. W. 407; Stewart v. State, 38 S. W. 1144; Tyrrell v. State, 38 S. W. 1011; Merriwether v. State, 55 Tex. Cr. R. 439, 116 S. W. 1150, in which case Judge Ramsey, passing on the question, states the rule as follows:
"We understand the rule to be that charges preferred in a legal manner, and certainly convictions of crime which imply moral turpitude, are receivable in evidence as affecting the credibility of a witness or a defendant; but this rule has not been applied, we think, and should not be applied, in respect to convictions which do not involve moral obliquity, or of the grade of felony, or such as are not...
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State v. Malusky
...State, 215 Ala. 619, 112 So. 157); Fort v. City of Brinkley, supra; Edenfield v. State, 14 Ga. App. 401, 81 S. E. 253;Jennings v. State, 82 Tex. Cr. R. 504, 200 S. W. 169 (but see Green v. State, 107 Tex. Cr. R. 473, 296 S. W. 1109;Id., 108 Tex. Cr. R. 249, 300 S. W. 55);McGovern v. Hays & ......
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State v. Malusky
... ... [230 N.W. 739] ... Ala.App. ---, 121 So. 3; Ex parte Marshall, 207 Ala. 566, 25 ... A.L.R. 338, 93 So. 471 (but see Baugh v. State, 215 ... Ala. 619, 112 So. 157); Fort v. Brinkley, 87 Ark ... 404, 112 S.W. 1084; Edenfield v. State, 14 Ga.App ... 401, 81 S.E. 253; Jennings v. State, 82 Tex. Crim ... Rep. 504, 200 S.W. 169, (but see Green v. State, 107 ... Tex. Crim. Rep. 473, 300 S.W. 55); McGovern v. Hays, ... 75 Vt. 104, 53 A. 326; Coykendall v. Skrmetta (C.C.A ... 5th) 22 F.2d 120. Accordingly we hold that a violation ... of the state prohibition law ... ...
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In re Bartos
...turpitude. Holmes v. State, 68 Tex. Cr. R. 17, 150 S. W. 926; Hightower v. State, 73 Tex. Cr. R. 258, 165 S. W. 184; Jennings v. State, 82 Tex. Cr. R. 504, 200 S. W. 169; Carter v. State, 100 Tex. Cr. R. 95, 271 S. W. 629; Swope v. State, 4 Ala. App. 83, 58 So. 809; Abrams v. State, 17 Ala.......