Samuels v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 26 November 1909
• Citation: Samuels v. Commonwealth, 110 Va. 901, 66 S.E. 222, 19 Ann.Cas. 380 (1909)
• Parties: SAMUELS. v. COMMONWEALTH.
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court

(110 Va. 901)

66 S.E. 222

SAMUELS.

v.COMMONWEALTH.

Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia.

Nov.26, 1909.

Error to CorporationCourt of Danville.

W. B. Samuels was convicted of murder, and brings error.Reversed and remanded for new trial.

Peatross & Harris, for plaintiff in error.

The Attorney General, for the State.

CARDWELL, J. W. B. Samuels was indicted in the corporation court of the city of Danville for murder, found guilty, and sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary for a term of 18 years.To that judgment this court awarded a writ of error.

There being, in our opinion, no merit in the other assignments of error to the rulings of the trial court, or it not being probable that the matters therein referred to will arise upon another trial, we will consider only the question presented on the second assignment, viz., whether or not it was error to refuse plaintiff in error the right to testify in his own behalf.

This ruling of the trial court was grounded upon the proof adduced on behalf of the commonwealth that plaintiff in error had been theretofore convicted in the District Court of the United States for the western District of Virginia of perjury, and that by virtue of the Virginia statutes(sections 3742,3743,3898,Va. Code 1904)he was disqualified to testify as a witness in the courts of this commonwealth.Conceding that the proof was competent and sufficient to prove the conviction of plaintiff in error of perjury in the federal court, does that fact disqualify him as a witness in the courts of this commonwealth?

The federal statute(section 5392 of the Revised Statutes of the United States[U. S. Comp. St.1901, p. 3653]) defines what constitutes "perjury" under it, and how the offense shall be punished, adding, to the punishment by fine and imprisonment, "and shall moreover thereafter be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United States. * * * " By that statute the conviction of one for its violation incapacitates him to testify in the courts of the United States, i. e., in the federal courts, and can be given no greater force or effect.

Section 3742 of the Virginia statute, supra, provides that, if any person commit Perjury on a trial for felony, he shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than ten years; and, if it be on any other occasion, he shall be confined in jail and fined.By section 3743 the further penalty is imposed of making any person so convicted incapable of holding any post mentioned in section 162, or of serving as a juror, or giving evidence as a witness, and section 3898 merely provides that "a person convicted of perjury shall not be a witness, although pardoned or punished."

We do not think it at all material that the federal and state enactments impose different penalties for perjury, but do consider it conclusive of this case that the federal statute was intended and has the effect only to disqualify persons convicted of perjury in the...