Moffit v. State

• Decision Date: 31 December 1840
• Citation: 21 Tenn. 99
• Parties: MOFFIT v. THE STATE.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

21 Tenn. 99

MOFFIT

v.THE STATE.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

December, 1840.

At the June term, 1838, of the circuit court of Lincoln county, the grand jury indicted William Moffit, James H. Moffit, and James Taylor, for an assault and battery upon the body of John Grigsby, by binding him to a tree, scourging him with rods, and thereby inflicting upon him divers wounds and bruises. The defendants pleaded not guilty, and issue was joined thereupon. The cause was continued till the June term. The defendants, William Moffit and James Taylor, were put upon their trial, and a verdict rendered against Moffit for the sum of $500, and against Taylor for the sum of $200. This verdict was set aside, upon motion of the defendants, and a new trial awarded them. At the June term, 1839, the cause was called for trial. William Moffit then presented the following affidavit to the court:

“William Moffit, one of the defendants, makes oath that Mariah Taylor, the wife of James Taylor, is a material witness for him in the trial of this case. He is informed and believes that he can prove by said witness that he was at home through the night on which he is charged with the commission of the crime alleged in the indictment, which, if committed at all, was committed at a different place. He further states that James Taylor, the husband of the said Mariah Taylor, is jointly indicted with him and another in this case, but that she has intermarried with said Taylor since said crime was committed. He, therefore, prays that himself and the other defendant may be permitted to have their trial separate from said James Taylor, in order that they may have the benefit of the testimony of said Mariah.”

The prayer of this affidavit prevailed, and the defendants William Moffit and James H. Moffit were first put upon their trial before a jury of Lincoln, A. J. Marchbanks presiding. The witness on the part of the State testified that on the -- day of February, 1838, at night, in the county of Lincoln, the prosecutor, John Grigsby, was taken out of his bed by five men, disguised, and carried to the forest, bound to a tree, and severely scourged with rods, and that two of the five men engaged in this act were the defendants, William and James H. Moffit.

The defendants then introduced the above mentioned Mariah Taylor, who was the wife of James Taylor, who was jointly indicted with the defendants on trial, but who was not yet tried. The attorney general, on behalf of the State, objected to her competency as a witness. This objection was sustained, and her testimony rejected. The jury returned a verdict of $500 against William Moffit, and of $100 against his son, James H. Moffit.

The defendants moved the court to set aside this verdict, but their motion was overruled and judgment rendered in conformity with the verdict. The court sentenced William Moffit to three months' imprisonment in the comon jail of Lincoln county, and James H. Moffit to six weeks' imprisonment in the same.

From this judgment the defendants appealed in error to the supreme court.

James Campbell, for plaintiff in error.

Attorney General, for the State.

Reese, J., delivered the opinion of the court.

The plaintiff in error and one James H. Moffit and one James Taylor were jointly indicted for an assault and battery. When the case came on to be tried, the plaintiff in error made an affidavit that the wife of J. Taylor, the...