Morris v. State

• Decision Date: 20 January 1960
• Docket Number: No. 31200,31200
• Citation: 332 S.W.2d 326,169 Tex.Crim. 153
• Parties: Mack MORRIS, Appellant, v. STATE of Texas, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 326

332 S.W.2d 326

169 Tex.Crim. 153

Mack MORRIS, Appellant, v. STATE of Texas, Appellee.

No. 31200.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

Jan. 20, 1960.

[169 TEXCRIM 154] C. S. Farmer (On appeal only), Waco, for appellant.

Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.

MORRISON, Presiding Judge.

The offense is keeping and exhibiting a policy game; the punishment, 4 years.

Appellant was indicted and tried jointly with six other accuseds, one of whom was Daniel Cabin. Only this appellant appeals. Lieutenant Gann of the Austin police testified that he and officers working under him had for some three weeks prior to the day charged in the indictment kept the seven accuseds under close surveillance, watching their houses and following their activities; that on the day in question he and a team of three other unmarked automobiles observed appellant as he followed a circuitous route over the streets of the city of Austin; that each police automobile would take turns following appellant so as not to be recognized, all the while keeping in touch with each other by radio; and that finally appellant's automobile was brought to a halt in East Austin.

In the absence of the jury on the issue of probable cause for the search of appellant's automobile, Lieutenant Gann testified that during this drive he heard by radio from officer Wells that appellant had been seen meeting with one Daniel Cabin in an alley at the rear of a food store and that at such meeting Cabin handed appellant a brown paper bag and appellant handed Cabin a bundle of paper and the two had quickly separated. He also testified that he had prior to that day received information from several of his old acquaintances that Cabin was working as 'pickup man' for appellant in his policy operation. In the presence of the jury, he testified that a search of appellant's automobile revealed a large paper bag which contained many smaller bundles of policy numbers or books and varying amounts of money. Appellant was arrested and carried to jail where the back of his automobile was searched and many policy books were found.

[169 TEXCRIM 155] The officer who had observed the meeting testified and stated further that he had arrested Cabin after the two had separated and that he found a roll of policy 'winners' tickets' in his automobile.

Earnest Brown testified that he was no longer connected with policy but that in the past he had been, that appellant had given him a 'book number' as a writer but that later, after he had been picked up by Lieutenant Gann, appellant told him that he found out that the witness had been talking to Gann and he did not want him writing for him any more.

Lieutenant Gann also testified that he had compared the slips which were taken from appellant's automobile with writers' onionskin receipts which were found in the possession of some of the other accuseds and found them to be the original and carbon copy of the same policy plays, and that on other occasions a player's copy which matched the writer's onionskin copy, and also the original in appellant's possession was found.

The above, we think, is a sufficient statement of the evidence as it relates to this appellant, and we shall discuss the contentions advanced by brief and in argument.

Appellant first contends that the court erred in admitting in evidence that portion of the confession of Cabin wherein appellant is mentioned by name. This question does not appear to have been often before this Court, and certainly not since the amendment of Article 642c, Vernon's Ann.P.C.,...