State v. Grimms
| Decision Date | 29 April 1918 |
| Docket Number | 23012 |
| Citation | 78 So. 661,143 La. 421 |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE v. GRIMMS |
(Syllabus by the Court.)
Under authority of section 1047 of the Revised Statutes, permitting the amendment of an indictment to correspond with the evidence heard during a criminal trial, the trial judge may on motion of the district attorney, order a change made in the name in the indictment of both the victim and the person accused of murder, and may order that the trial proceed as if no amendment had been made, if the judge finds that the change is not material to the merits of the case and could not prejudice the defendant; provided, of course, no change shall be made as to the identity of either the person accused or the victim of the crime.
When the defendant on trial for murder has testified that he fired two shots, killing two men, it is permissible for the district attorney to argue to the jury that the killing of the two men was evidence of malice on the part of the defendant on trial for the murder of one of them.
W. H. Todd, of Bastrop, for appellant.
A. V. Coco, Atty. Gen., and C. J. Ellis, Jr., Dist. Atty., of Rayville (Vernon A. Coco, of New Orleans, of counsel), for the State.
O'NIELL, J.
The defendant appeals from a verdict convicting him of murder, without capital punishment, and from a sentence of imprisonment for life.
Three bills of exception were taken to the rulings of the court allowing the district attorney to amend the bill of indictment, after the jury was impaneled and the taking of testimony was begun. Two amendments were allowed; the first being to change the name of the person accused from that of Eddie Graham to that of Eddie Grimms, and the second being to change the name of the alleged victim from that of Jake Graham to that of Jacob Grimms. When the second amendment was made, the defendant objected to proceeding with the trial because he had not been served with a copy of the amended indictment. His objection was overruled and the fourth bill of exceptions was reserved to the ruling.
The four bills pertaining to the amendment of the indictment may be considered together. All of the objections are disposed of by section 1047 of the Revised Statutes, which provides that whenever, during a trial on an indictment for any crime, there appears a variance between the indictment and the evidence, with regard to the Christian name or surname, or with regard to both the Christian name and surname, or other description, of any person named or described in the indictment, the trial judge may, if he considers that the variance is not material to the merits of the case and that the defendant cannot be prejudiced by the change, order the indictment amended to correspond with the proof, and that, after any such amendment, the trial shall, if the court so orders, proceed...
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State v. Dreher
...is expressly authorized by Revised Statutes, § 1047. To the same effect is State v. Evans, 135 La. 891, 66 So. 259. In State v. Grimms, 143 La. 421, 78 So. 661, amendment of the indictment was allowed under section 1047 of the Revised Statutes as to the name of both the victim and the perso......
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State v. Bienvenu
...made as it was not necessary to the decision. This was pointed out in State v. Grimms. 143 La. 421, at page 423 of the opinion, 78 So. 661, where this said: 'The expression in State v. Hewitt, 131 La. [at page] 117, 59 So. [at page] 35, that the district attorney has authority to amend only......
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