Ramsey v. State
| Decision Date | 12 June 1901 |
| Parties | RAMSEY v. STATE. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Appeal from district court, Fannin county; Ben H. Denton, Judge.
Newt Ramsey was convicted of rape, and he appeals. Affirmed.
Robt. A. John, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Appellant was convicted of rape, and his punishment assessed at confinement in the penitentiary for life; hence this appeal.
On the trial appellant requested the following instruction: "That if they believed from the evidence that the injured party, Biddie Ramsey, failed to call for aid at the time of the commission of said crime, or failed to make outcry, or failed to disclose the same, within a reasonable time after the commission of said offense, and when an opportunity presented itself for her to so disclose said offense, then the jury can take into consideration said facts and failure to report as aforesaid to determine the credibility of her evidence, and that such circumstances can be shown to discredit her testimony,"—which charge was refused by the court. It is insisted that this was error, in view of certain facts elicited from the prosecuting witness, Biddie Ramsey, on her cross-examination, in effect that appellant had intercourse with her the first time at night; that during the night he copulated with her as many as two times, and during the next day as many as nine times; that there were others in the house at the time,—her brother and sister,—but her stepmother was away from home; that she returned the next morning, and remained every day until defendant was arrested on a misdemeanor, which was about two weeks subsequent to said act of carnal intercourse; and that she made no outcry at the time, nor did she make any report of the matter to her stepmother until about two weeks after the same was committed, and about three or four days after her father had been put in jail on said misdemeanor charge. This bill does not propose to give all the testimony of the prosecutrix. Of course, in passing on a matter of this kind, it becomes necessary to refer to her entire testimony. From that it will be seen that she was a child only 13 years old; that the offense was committed by her father, whom she feared, and who, in that connection, made threats against her in case she should ever tell of it. Moreover, the record of her testimony shows that she told her stepmother the next morning after she came home. The cross-examination alluded to contradicts this. But this may be attributed to her tender years, excitement on the occasion, and the ingenuity of the able counsel who conducted the cross-examination.
However, the question is, did the court commit a material error in refusing to give the requested instruction? We know of no case...
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Wair v. State
...would have been on the weight of the testimony and was properly refused. Thomas v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 70 S.W. 93; Ramsey v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 63 S.W. 875. Prosecutrix was only thirteen years old when this offense was committed. She was afflicted, not able to walk without assistance. She ......
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Purifoy v. State, 28378
...a reasonable time. The issue of consent cannot legally arise in that the offense is complete with or without her consent. Ramsey v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 63 S.W. 875; Moore v. State, 90 Tex.Cr.R. 604, 236 S.W. 477; Armstrong v. State, 95 Tex.Cr.R. 107, 252 S.W. 777; Hindman v. State, 152 Tex.......
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Briscoe v. State
...she went with the police that night out to the place where the assault was made. There was no issue in the case of consent. In Ramsey v. State, 63 S. W. 875, we said that the failure to make outcry appears to have been treated as a test of consent. Its usefulness for such purpose would be g......
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Ambrose v. State, 22148.
...will not defeat the State's case; consent being immaterial. Hamilton v. State, 36 Tex.Cr.R. [372], 374, 37 S.W. 431; Ramsey v. State, [Tex. Cr. App.], 63 S.W. 875; Hill v. State [Tex.Cr.App.], 77 S.W. 808." Branch's P. C., p. 1002, Sec. We are familiar with the doctrine that where the prose......