State v. Adair

• Decision Date: 26 February 1901
• Citation: 61 S.W. 187,160 Mo. 391
• Parties: STATE v. ADAIR.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

61 S.W. 187

160 Mo. 391

STATE v. ADAIR.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 2.

February 26, 1901.

ROBBERY — CRIMINAL LAW — REASONABLE DOUBT—ACCUSED AS WITNESS—CREDIBILITY OF WITNESS.

1. An unlawful and felonious assault with intent to deprive the person assaulted of his property, made without any honest claim to the property, and the unlawful taking of property from him by force and violence and against his will, constitutes the crime of robbery in the first degree.

2. It is not error to instruct, in a prosecution for robbery, that the defendant is a competent witness in his own behalf, but that his interest in the result of the case may be considered in determining his credibility.

3. It is not error to instruct, in a prosecution for robbery, that a reasonable doubt sufficient to warrant an acquittal must be a substantial doubt of defendant's guilt with a view to all the evidence, and not a mere possibility of the defendant's innocence.

4. It is not error to instruct, in a prosecution for robbery, that, if there is any evidence which raises a reasonable doubt as to the presence of the defendant at the time and place where the crime is charged to have been committed, he must be acquitted.

5. It is not error to instruct, in a prosecution for robbery, that the jury are the sole judges of the credibility of the witnesses and the value of their testimony, but that in determining the credit to be given a witness his conduct on the stand, interest in the result of the trial, feeling towards the accused or the injured person, the improbability of his statements, his opportunity for observation and knowledge, and his inclination to speak truthfully, should be considered in connection with all the other facts given in evidence.

6. It is not error to instruct, in a criminal case, that, if the jury concludes that a witness has testified falsely to a material fact, his entire testimony may be disregarded.

7. Where there is sufficient evidence to convict the defendant in a prosecution for robbery, the question of the credibility of the evidence affirming or denying his presence when the crime occurred is for the jury.

Appeal from criminal court, Jackson county; John W. Wofford, Judge.

James Adair was convicted of robbery in the first degree, and he appeals. Affirmed.

Jas. M. Chaney, Jr., for appellant. The Attorney General and Sam B. Jeffries, for the State.

SHERWOOD, P. J.

The verdict of the jury found defendant guilty of robbery in the first degree, and assessed his punishment at five years in the penitentiary. The instructions given by the court were as follows: No. 1: "The court instructs the jury that if they find and believe from the evidence that the defendant, James Adair, at the county of Jackson and state of Missouri, at any time within three years next before the 17th day of April, 1900, did unlawfully and feloniously make an assault upon the witness, Bessie Proctor, and did by force and violence to her person, in her presence, and against her will, and without any honest claim to the same, with the felonious intent to deprive the owner of her property therein, and convert the same to his own use, unlawfully and feloniously take from the witness, Bessie Proctor, any of the property mentioned in the indictment, of any...