Long v. State, (No. 12806.)

• Decision Date: 08 January 1930
• Docket Number: (No. 12806.)
• Parties: LONG v. STATE.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

23 S.W.2d 390

LONG v. STATE.

(No. 12806.)

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

January 8, 1930.

Commissioner's Decision.

Appeal from District Court, Potter County; Henry S. Bishop, Judge.

Henry Long was convicted of rape, and he appeals. Reversed and remanded.

Cooper & Lumpkin, of Amarillo, for appellant.

A. A. Dawson, State's Atty., of Austin, for the State.

CHRISTIAN, J.

The offense is rape; the punishment, confinement in the penitentiary for 15 years.

The mother of Edna Hudson, prosecutrix, had separated from her husband. Appellant had on several occasions gone with the mother of prosecutrix. On some of these occasions, prosecutrix accompanied her mother and appellant on automobile rides. Some time prior to the return of the indictment herein prosecutrix's mother died. A complaint charging appellant with the murder of prosecutrix's mother by poisoning was sworn to by the father of prosecutrix. After an investigation of the matter, the grand jury failed to return an indictment. However, an indictment was returned against appellant, charging him with having raped prosecutrix; it being alleged that prosecutrix was under the age of 15 years. Appellant ran a restaurant. Prosecutrix testified that appellant came from his restaurant to her home during the day, and took her in his automobile to a point in the country, where, with her consent, he had sexual intercourse with her. She did not report the matter to any person, according to her testimony, until she was called before the grand jury approximately a month after the date of the alleged offense. Appellant vigorously denied that he had ever had improper relations with prosecutrix, and testified that he had never been with her alone. He said that he had gone riding with prosecutrix and her mother, and that on some of these occasions other persons were present in the car. It does not appear that any person ever saw appellant and prosecutrix together when others were not present with them. The record fails to disclose whether prosecutrix was examined by a physician. The state relied entirely upon the testimony of prosecutrix.

Proof was made by one witness that the general reputation of appellant in the community in which he resided for truth and veracity was bad. No other witness was used on this issue, except that the state elicited from appellant that he had theretofore, in the year 1924, been indicted for murder. In testing the sufficiency of the knowledge of the witness testifying to appell...