State v. Buckley

• Decision Date: 10 December 1889
• Citation: 22 P. 838,18 Or. 228
• Parties: STATE v. BUCKLEY
• Court: Oregon Supreme Court

22 P. 838

18 Or. 228

STATE v. BUCKLEY

Supreme Court of Oregon

December 10, 1889

Appeal from circuit court, Multnomah county.

The defendant was indicted and convicted of the crime of perjury and sentenced to the penitentiary for five years, from which judgment he has appealed to this court.It appears from the record that in a certain proceeding had before A.H. TANNER police judge of the city of Portland, and acting magistrate one Brown was examined upon a charge of being armed with a dangerous weapon, and of assaulting the appellant with such weapon, and upon such examination the appellant was sworn as a witness on the part of the state, and testified that he did not remember the circumstances under which he was injured, or who cut him, or how he received the wound in his abdomen.The indictment contains proper assignments of perjury on each of these specifications.At the conclusion of the evidence the defendant's counsel moved the court to direct an acquittal, for the reason the evidence on the part of the state was insufficient to convict the defendant of the crime of perjury, and that the jury must render a verdict of not guilty.But the court refused to so instruct the jury, to which an exception was taken; and this ruling presents the only question on this appeal.All of the evidence given upon the trial is contained in the bill of exceptions, and may be briefly summarized: A.H. Tanner testified he was police judge of the city of Portland, and, at the time laid in the indictment, acted as magistrate in the case of the State v Brown, and that on such examination Buckley was sworn as a witness and testified he was drunk at the time laid in the information, and did not remember any of the facts or circumstances relating thereto, or, in fact, anything about it.Nathan D. Simon, the assistant district attorney testified that he appeared before such magistrate, and conducted the examination against Brown in behalf of the state, upon which Buckley was examined as a witness, and that he asked, and the defendant Buckley answered, questions as follows: "Question.Do you know William Brown?Answer.Yes.Q.Did you see William Brown, on the night of March 17th, in the city of Portland, Oregon?A.Yes.Q.Have you received a cut or wound in the abdomen?A.Yes.Q.Willyou state the circumstances under which you received such injuries?A.I do not remember.Q.Who cut you?A.I do not remember.Q.How did you receive that wound in the abdomen?A.I do not remember.Q.Did you not tell Captain Brannan that Brown had cut you with a knife, and that was the way you got the wound?A.I do not remember.Q.Did you not tell Captain Gritzmacher, the next morning after the affray, at the police station, that Brown had cut you?A.I do not remember.Q.Did you tell Mr. Coldwell, of the Oregonian, of the facts charging Brown with the same?A.I do not remember.Q.Did you not tell Chief Parrish, at about ten or eleven o'clock of the following day after the affray, at the city jail, that Brown had cut you, and did you not state the circumstances of the affair?A.I do not remember.Q.Did you tell Officer Morgan, on the afternoon of March 18th or 19th, the day or two after the cutting, that you did not want to see Brown sent to the penitentiary, but, if you were going to die, you would tell the entire truth about the matter?A.I do not remember.Q.Why don't you remember?A.I was drunk.Q.Were you drunk all these two or three days after?A.No."Mr. Coldwell, the reporter of the Oregonian, testified to an interview he had with Buckley while the doctor was dressing his wounds, in which he said, substantially, that it was "Billy" Brown who gave it to him in the bowels.Chief of Police Parrish testified, in substance, that he had a conversation with the defendant, Buckley, the next day after he was cut, at about the hour of 11 o'clock A.M.That Buckley was at the city jail, and perfectly sober, but was suffering from a wound in the abdomen.That witness asked defendant how it happened, and he said he was walking with one Mrs. Snyder, and they met Brown, and Brown slapped her, and he said, "Don't do that;" then they had some words, and Brown pulled out a knife, and stabbed him, and he lay some time on the sidewalk, till Officer Brannan came along, and took him to the station.A.B. Brannan testified that he was a police officer; that he came along the street the night of March 17th, last, and saw the defendant sitting on the sidewalk, and asked him the circumstances under which he came there, and he repeated about the same story to Brannan that he did to Chief Parrish, already set out.Officer Morgan testified that on the 19th of March he took the defendant to the hospital, and that on the way he told witness that he did not want any harm to happen to Brown, but that if he died he would tell the truth about it.This was all the evidence that could have any relevancy to the question presented.

(Syllabus by the Court.)

Hill's Code, 778, requires two witnesses, or one witness and corroborating circumstances, to convict a prisoner of the crime of perjury; and what is meant by ...