Johnson v. State

Citation20 S.W. 980
PartiesJOHNSON v. STATE.
Decision Date18 January 1893
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas. Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas

Appeal from Dallas county court; E. G. BOWER, Judge.

Eugene Johnson was convicted of libel, and appeals. Reversed.

Edwards & Blewett, for appellant. R. L. Henry, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

SIMKINS, J.

Appellant was convicted in the county court of Dallas county for libel, and sentenced to a fine of $100, from which judgment he appealed to this court. The appellant published a defamatory article about one Owen L. Parry, a resident citizen of Dallas, in a newspaper called the "Kansas City Sunday Sun," which was circulated in Dallas county and city, in which the said Parry was charged with criminal intimacy, in Dallas city, with one Essie Watkins, a woman of dissolute character, and with malicious mischief in breaking a quantity of furniture and bric-a-brac, and with drunkenness in a public place, to wit, in the house of the said Essie Watkins, and with disorderly conduct. An information was filed upon an affidavit made by the said Parry, charging that so much of the article which is set out is grossly libelous, and that, while it charged no penal offense, it charged matters which were false and disgraceful to him as a member of society.

1. Appellant complains first, that the affidavit upon which the information was based did not begin, "In the name and by the authority of the state of Texas." This is unnecessary. Jefferson Case, 24 Tex. App. 535, 7 S. W. Rep. 244. The information did begin. "In the name and by the authority of the state of Texas," and that was sufficient.

2. The appellant complains that the court erred in overruling his exception thereto, and in ruling out appellant's testimony when he sought to prove the truth of the libel, which he had a right to do, because the libel did allege penal offenses against the laws of the state. The statute declares that when a libel charges a penal offense, and states the time, place, and nature of the offense, the truth of the libel may be offered in evidence. If the penal offense is charged generally, without the specifications required, the truth cannot be proved, though in fact the libel may be true. It is the policy of the law to suppress the publication of all scandalous matter which simply tends to bring disgrace and trouble upon the citizen, but it is not its policy to suppress the discovery of crime, whereby the state may be duly notified of its existence. It is matter "proper for public information," (Bill of Rights, § 8,) for it always concerns the public interest that crimes be revealed and punished. But the law will permit no criminal charge to be publicly made by any person without such specific...

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8 cases
  • State v. Levy
    • United States
    • Idaho Supreme Court
    • January 21, 1904
    ... ... 429; Commonwealth v ... Scott, 123 Mass. 239, 25 Am. Rep. 87; State v ... Martin, 74 Mo. 547; People v. Doyle, 58 Hun, ... 535, 12 N.Y.S. 836; Hunt v. State, 28 Tex. App. 149, ... 19 Am. St. Rep. 815, 12 S.W. 737; McPherson v. State ... (Tex. App.), 15 S.W. 174; Johnson v. State, 31 ... Tex. Cr. Rep. 464, 20 S.W. 980; Richardson v. State, ... 33 Tex. Cr. Rep. 518, 27 S.W. 139; State v. Cameron, ... 40 Vt. 555; Price v. Commonwealth, 77 Va. 593; ... Baker v. People, 105 Ill. 452.) A remark by the ... district attorney, in his argument, that the law ... ...
  • State v. Marceaux
    • United States
    • Louisiana Supreme Court
    • June 25, 1898
    ... ... argument and not in the closing argument as claimed [50 ... La.Ann. 1145] by counsel for appellant. That the action in ... the matter was in accord with that endorsed in State vs ... Chevis, 48 An. 575, and appellant has no cause for ... complaint. Reference is made to State vs. Johnson & ... Butler, 48 An. 87; State vs. Anderson & ... Blackstone, 45 An. 654; State vs. Mack, 45 An ... 1157, and State vs. Duck, 35 An. 764 ... The ... facts in State vs. Chevis, 48 An. 577, are not ... similar to those of the case at bar. The District Attorney in ... the Chevis case ... ...
  • Wilkes v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • January 17, 1951
    ...commence, 'In the name and by the authority of the State of Texas,' provided the information began with such phrase. See Johnson v. State, 31 Tex.Cr.R. 464, 20 S.W. 980; Jefferson v. State, 24 Tex.Cr.R. 535, 7 S.W. 244. The above cases do not apply to a prosecution in the justice court. See......
  • Bell v. State
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
    • January 26, 1921
    ...S. W. 1047; Treadaway v. State, 61 Tex. Cr. R. 546, 135 S. W. 147; Jefferson v. State, 24 Tex. App. 535, 7 S. W. 244; Johnson v. State, 31 Tex. Cr. R. 465, 20 S. W. 980; Sessions v. State, 98 S. W. Under these authorities, the motion in arrest of judgment was correctly overruled. Had this c......
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