Starchman v. State
| Decision Date | 08 July 1896 |
| Citation | 36 S.W. 940 |
| Parties | STARCHMAN v. STATE. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Appeal from circuit court, Lawrence county; Richard H. Powell, Judge.
R. D. Starchman was convicted of burglary, and appeals. Reversed.
The defendant, Starchman, was indicted by the grand jury of Lawrence county for the crime of burglary. The indictment alleged that Starchman, "on the 15th day of March, 1895, in the county, district, and state aforesaid, and during the nighttime of said day, the courthouse in the town of Powhatan, then and there situate, and owned and possessed by the county of Lawrence, then and there willfully, maliciously, feloniously, and burglariously, did break and enter, with the felonious and burglarious intent twenty-five hundred two-cent United States postage stamps, of the value of fifty dollars, of the property of the United States, then and there being in the possession and under the control of one Geo. Wells, he being the postmaster of the post office in the town of Powhatan, which said stamps were by him deposited and kept in the safe of the treasurer of said county, which safe was in the room or office of the said treasurer in said courthouse, then and there feloniously and burglariously to steal, take, and carry away, against the peace and dignity of the state of Arkansas." On the trial, the state was allowed to introduce in evidence certain instruments found in defendant's house by officers while searching for postage stamps alleged to have been stolen. The other facts sufficiently appear in the opinion. Defendant was convicted, and judgment of imprisonment for a term of three years in the state penitentiary was rendered against him, from which he appealed.
Jos. W. Phillips, for appellant. E. B. Kinsworthy, Atty. Gen., for the State.
RIDDICK, J. (after stating the facts).
It was not error to allow witnesses on the part of state to exhibit to the jury certain drills and punches found by them in the house of appellant, Starchman. It having been shown that the safe which was entered was opened by means of similar instruments in connection with an explosive substance, such evidence was proper, as tending more or less to connect Starchman with the offense. People v. Hope, 62 Cal. 291; Rap. Lar. & Kin. Off. § 358. It was held in Boyd v. U. S., 116 U. S. 616, 6 Sup. Ct. 524, cited by counsel for appellant, that a defendant cannot be compelled to produce his private papers in order that they may be read in evidence against him upon a criminal prosecution, for the reason that to do so would, in effect, be compelling him to testify against himself. But that case has no application here, and rests on principles different from those controlling the admission of this evidence. No private papers of the defendant were introduced, and he was not compelled to produce the instruments offered in evidence in this case. These instruments were found by the officers while searching for stolen property, and it was proper for such officers to testify concerning any material fact discovered by them while making such search. This case is similar to the case of State v. Flynn, 36 N. H. 64, where it was held that "evidence obtained by means of a search warrant is not inadmissible either upon ground that it is in the nature of admissions made under duress, or that it is evidence which the defendant has been compelled to furnish against himself, or on the...
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State v. Tonn
...State v. Flynn, 36 N.H. 64; People v. Aldorfer, 164 Mich. 676 (130 N.W. 351); State v. Reed, 53 Mont. 292 (163 P. 477); Starchman v. State, 62 Ark. 538, 36 S.W. 940; State v. Griswold, 67 Conn. 290, 34 A. 1046; Williams v. State, 100 Ga. 511, 28 S.E. 624; State v. Sawtelle, 66 N.H. 488 (32 ......
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...nor to "give evidence" of its contents. It was found in his possession in a lawful search of his person or his baggage. Starchman v. State, 62 Ark. 540, 36 S. W. 940; State v. Griswold, 67 Conn. 306, 34 Atl. 1047, 33 L. R. A. 227; Williams v. State, 100 Ga. 518, 28 S. E. 624, 39 L. R. A. 26......
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