Reed v. State

Decision Date07 June 1921
Docket Number8 Div. 820
Citation90 So. 37,18 Ala.App. 181
PartiesREED v. STATE.
CourtAlabama Court of Appeals

Appeal from Circuit Court, Franklin County; C.P. Almon, Judge.

Tom Reed was convicted of violating the prohibition law, and he appeals. Reversed and remanded.

Travis Williams, of Russellville, for appellant.

Harwell G. Davis, Atty. Gen., for the State.

SAMFORD, J.

We have carefully read the evidence in this case, and, while there is no direct evidence of the corpus delicti, there are circumstances in evidence from which the jury might draw a conclusion of guilt. And, in view of the decisions of this court and of the Supreme Court on this question, we must hold that the refusal of the general affirmative charge as requested by the defendant was not error. However, in view of the method used by the officers in obtaining the evidence, we are led to say that on the trial the court did not have the benefit of the recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in Gouled v. United States, 255 U.S. 298, 41 Sup.Ct. 261, 65 L.Ed. 647; Amos v. United States, 255 U.S. 313, 41 S.Ct. 266, 65 L.Ed. 654.

The court, over the objection of the defendant, permitted the state to prove that there were fresh tracks leading from defendant's house when the officers went there to search. These tracks were not shown by any sort of testimony to have been made by defendant, nor was he connected with them in any way, except that they led from his home. This testimony was immaterial, and should have been excluded on defendant's motion. After this testimony had been admitted, the solicitor, over the timely objection and exception of defendant, was permitted to ask a state's witness this question:

"Now in answer to a question Mr. Williams asked you, if you saw Tom leave the house or whether Mr. Todd could have seen him leave, how did the tracks indicate that he left?"

This question assumed as a fact that the tracks testified to were those of the defendant. This was a disputed fact, and the overruling of the defendant's objection and motion to exclude was reversible error.

The judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded.

Reversed and remanded.

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6 cases
  • Williams v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 10 Julio 1922
    ... ... Commonwealth of Ky., 224 S.W. 860; Livelar v ... State, 53 So. 681; State v. Marshall, 100 Miss ... 626; U. S. F. & G. Co. v. State, 121 Miss. 369; ... Banfill v. Byrd, et al., 122 Miss. 288; City of ... Hattiesburg v. Beverly, 123 Miss. 759; Powers v ... State, 86 So. 862; Reed v. State (Ala), 90 So ... 37, and cases therein cited.) Upon the trial of the cause, ... and while the appellant, Moody Williams, was testifying on ... the stand as a witness in his own behalf, the sheriff, E. S ... Nichols, within the hearing of the court and jury, broke into ... and ... ...
  • Crosslin v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • 25 Febrero 1986
    ...48, 55, cert. denied, 248 Ala. 239, 27 So.2d 55 (1946); Williams v. State, 245 Ala. 32, 34, 15 So.2d 572, 573 (1943); Reed v. State, 18 Ala.App. 181, 90 So. 37 (1921); Wilbanks v. State, 42 Ala.App. 39, 41, 151 So.2d 741, 743 (1962), cert. denied, 275 Ala. 701, 151 So.2d 744 (1963). Questio......
  • Cox v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • 22 Marzo 1932
    ... ... assuming in questions facts not proven is, not only improper ... and unfair, but, when the assumption of such facts is ... derogatory [25 Ala.App. 42] to the witness or to the ... defendant, they must result in a reversal of the case ... McGehee v. State, 171 Ala. 19, 55 So. 159; Reed ... v. State, 18 Ala. App. 181, 90 So. 37; Montgomery v ... State, 18 Ala. App. 213, 91 So. 630; Id., 207 Ala. 713, ... 91 So. 923; Doody v. State, 22 Ala. App. 289, 115 ... The ... trial court also committed error in overruling ... defendant's objection to the remark of the ... ...
  • Butler v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 18 Septiembre 1922
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