McCarty v. State
| Decision Date | 06 February 1891 |
| Citation | 127 Ind. 223,26 N.E. 665 |
| Parties | McCarty v. State. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from circuit court, Clinton county; S. H. Doyal, Judge.
W. A. Staley and W. R. Moore, for appellant. D. S. Holman, Jos. Combs, and A. G. Smith, Atty. Gen., for the State.
Appellant was convicted of the crime of robbery, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment in the state-prison. The only question here is upon the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conviction. On the evening of the alleged robbery, the prosecuting witness, whose name was Sholder, started to enter a certain saloon in the city of Frankfort by way of the rear door, and through an alley. He had at the time in one of his pockets a $10 bill. In the alley he met the appellant, with whom he had no acquaintance. Appellant accosted him, and asked him to go with him to a country dance. Sholder refused. Appellant then asked him if he was “going to set 'em up.” To this Sholder answered, “No.” Thereupon appellant struck him in the face with a brick-bat or a stone. The blow knocked him down, and rendered him unconscious. When he regained consciousness he got up, and went out on the street, where he found an acquaintance, who accompanied him back to the alley, where they found McCarty, the appellant. Sholder first said he did not know who hurt him, but on seeing McCarty inquired what his name was, and said he was the man who struck him. This McCarty denied. Sholder then went to the mayor's office, and then to the saloon which he was about to enter when he was struck. Here his face was washed, and his wounds dressed, and he then discovered that the pocket which had contained the $10 bill was torn, ripped, or cut open, and the money-a $10 “greenback”-was gone. The defendant left Frankfort that night, and went to Lebanon, where he was soon after arrested. There was no dispute or conflict in the testimony. The accused offered no testimony whatever, and did not even testify in his own behalf.
The rule has long been setted in this court that in criminal, as well as in civil, causes, verdicts will not be disturbed merely on the weight of the evidence. When the evidence tends to sustain the verdict on every material point, the court will not disturb the conclusion reached by the trial court and jury. There must be an absolute failure of evidence on some material point, or this court will not interfere on that ground alone. Ard v. State, 114 Ind. 542, 16 N. E. Rep. 504; Wachstetter v. State, 99 Ind. 290;Hudson v. State, 107 Ind. 372, 8 N. E. Rep. 273; Ritter v. State, 111 Ind. 324, 12 N. E. Rep. 501; Trout v. State, 111 Ind. 499, 12 N. E. Rep. 1005; Kleespies v. State, 106 Ind. 383, 7 N. E. Rep. 186; Dolke v. State, 99 Ind. 229;Murphy v. State, 97 Ind. 579;Clayton v. State, 100 Ind. 201;Garrett v. State, 109 Ind. 527, 10 N. E. Rep. 570. If we were disposed to question the...
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