Simmons v. State
| Decision Date | 22 June 1914 |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
| Parties | SIMMONS v. STATE |
March 1914
APPEAL from the circuit court of Pike county. HON. D. M. MILLER Judge.
The opinion of this case is on a suggestion of error. The case is reported in 105 Miss. 48.
Suggestion of error overruled.
H. V Wall, district attorney, for the state.
R. W. Cutrer and J. M. Alford, opposed.
At a former day of this term this case (64 So. 721) was reversed and remanded, because of errors in the instruction given by the trial court for the state. The case is again before us upon suggestion of error.
In the former opinion, the instruction condemned reads as follows:
"The court instructs the jury for the state that the crime of rape may be proven by circumstances, and it is not necessary to have an eyewitness to the deed, if the circumstances are sufficient to convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused party is guilty."
It is contended by the state that the error in the instruction just quoted is cured by the following instruction given to the jury at the request of the defendant, viz.:
"The court instructs the jury for the defendant that it makes no difference in this case whether Retta Simmons was injured on a wire fence or not, or how she was injured; but before you can convict this defendant of the offense, the state must prove to your satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant had sexual intercourse with her and the injury was caused in no other way, and, if it has failed to do this, you must find him not guilty."
The state contends that the instruction condemned by the former opinion of this court, read in connection with the instruction just quoted, correctly announces the rule governing the probative value of circumstantial evidence. In other words, the argument is that the two instructions advise the jury that "the state must prove to your satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had sexual intercourse with her, and that the injury was caused in no other way," means that the jury cannot convict on circumstantial evidence alone, unless the evidence excludes every reasonable hypothesis other than the guilt of defendant.
We are unable to see how the instruction given for the defendant in any way aids the instruction given for the state. The state's instruction erroneously announces the rule governing the probative value of circumstantial evidence, and the instructions given at request of defendant does not mention circumstantial evidence at all. This is the second appeal...
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Westbrook v. State
...to the jury is forbidden by section 586, Code of 1930, and is fatal error and must cause the reversal of this case. See Simmons v. State, 107 Miss. 463, 65 So. 511; Gilbert v. State, 78 Miss. 300, 29 So. Edwards v. State, 47 Miss. 581; Stewart v. State, 50 Miss. 587; Bangs v. State, 61 Miss......
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