Ryan v. State

Decision Date08 February 1894
Citation14 So. 868,100 Ala. 94
PartiesRYAN v. STATE.
CourtAlabama Supreme Court

Appeal from circuit court, Marengo county; James T. Jones, Judge.

William Ryan was convicted of grand larceny, and appeals. Affirmed.

The only question which is considered by the court is sufficiently stated in the opinion. After the introduction of all the evidence, the defendant requested the court to give the general affirmative charge in his behalf, and duly excepted to the court's refusal to give the same.

I. I Canterbury, for appellant.

Wm. L Martin, Atty. Gen., for the State.

COLEMAN J.

The defendant was convicted of the larceny of a hog, which, under the statute, is a felony. The only question deserving consideration arises upon the confessions of the defendant which were admitted against his objections. That the confessions were free and voluntary is not controverted. It is contended that there was not sufficient evidence of the corpus delicti to authorize the introduction of the confessions. The rule which prevails in this state is that a conviction should not be had on the extrajudicial confessions of the defendant, unsupported by any corroborating facts and circumstances; proof aliunde of the corpus delicti is required. Positive, direct evidence of the corpus delicti is not indispensable to the admissions of confessions. Whenever facts and circumstances are proven from which a jury might legally infer that the offense has been committed, the confessions are admissible. The proven facts and circumstances, and the confessions of the defendant, may then be weighed and considered together; and if, upon the whole evidence, the jury are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt both as to the corpus delicti and the identity of the defendant as the guilty perpetrator, it becomes their duty to convict. Winslow v. State, 76 Ala. 42; Mathews v. State, 55 Ala. 187; Colquitt v. State, 61 Ala. 49; Johnson v. State, 59 Ala. 37.

The trial took place at the fall term of the court, 1893. One Jackson testified that in November, 1892, about a year before the trial, he lost several shoats; that one was an unmarked black sow shoat, with a white list under stomach; that it would weigh from 50 to 70 pounds, perhaps not more than 50 or 60 pounds, and that it had never been seen since; that the hogs ranged near one Thomas, who knew them better than witness. Thomas testified that at the time Jackson lost his hog he ascertained...

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75 cases
  • Sheffield v. State Of Ala.
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • November 5, 2010
    ...indispensable to the admissions of confessions."' Bracewell v. State, 506 So. 2d 354, 360 (Ala. Cr. App. 1986), quoting Ryan v. State, 100Ala. 94, 14 So. 868 (1894). 'The corpus delicti may be established by circumstantial evidence.' Sockwell v. State, 675 So. 2d 4, 21 (Ala. Cr. App. 1993),......
  • Smith v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • September 20, 1991
    ...committed, the confessions are admissible." ' Snead [v. State, 251 Ala. 624, 627, 38 So.2d 576, 579 (1948) ] (quoting Ryan v. State, 100 Ala. 94, 95, 14 So. 868 (1894)). " 'It is a well-settled rule that a confession is not admissible until the corpus delicti is first proven. But if any fac......
  • Barber v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • May 27, 2005
    ...not indispensable to the admissions of confessions.'" Bracewell v. State, 506 So.2d 354, 360 (Ala.Cr.App. 1986), quoting Ryan v. State, 100 Ala. 94, 14 So. 868 (1894). "The corpus delicti may be established by circumstantial evidence." Sockwell v. State, 675 So.2d 4, 21 (Ala.Cr.App.1993), a......
  • Maxwell v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • May 26, 2000
    ...not indispensable to the admissions of confessions.'" Bracewell v. State, 506 So.2d 354, 360 (Ala.Cr.App.1986), quoting Ryan v. State, 100 Ala. 94, 14 So. 868 (1894). "The corpus delicti may be established by circumstantial evidence." Sockwell v. State, 675 So.2d 4, 21 (Ala.Cr.App. 1993), a......
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