State v. McBeth
| Decision Date | 26 November 1928 |
| Docket Number | 29419 |
| Citation | 119 So. 65,167 La. 324 |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE v. McBETH |
Appeal from Twenty-Second Judicial District Court, Parish of Washington; Prentiss B. Carter, Judge.
S McBeth was convicted of having intoxicating liquor in his possession for sale for beverage purposes, and he appeals.
Judgment annulled and set aside, and case remanded.
Ott & Rich, of Bogalusa, for appellant.
Percy Saint, Atty. Gen., C. S. Frederick, Dist. Atty., of Covington, and E. R. Schowalter, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Defendant was informed against and convicted of having intoxicating liquor in his possession for sale for beverage purposes, and prosecutes this appeal from the sentence pronounced against him.
On the trial of the case it appears that the district attorney asked one of the state's witnesses the following question, to wit:
"Do you know the reputation of the defendant in reference to his dealing in intoxicating liquor?"
The witness answered the question in the affirmative, whereupon the defendant objected to the testimony about to be offered, because the state was without right to offer such evidence, since he (the accused) had not put his character at issue. The court overruled the objection, and the witness testified that the reputation of defendant, with respect to dealing in intoxicating liquor, was bad, and that a number of persons had spoken to him concerning the conduct of defendant regarding his dealings in such liquor. The trial judge says that he overruled the objection, because in his opinion the reputation of the accused as a "bootlegger" is admissible in intoxicating liquor cases.
The ruling of the trial judge is wholly untenable. As was said in a comparatively recent case, "Nothing is better settled in the criminal law than that the question of the character of the accused cannot be gone into until the accused himself has first put it at issue." State v. Peters, 142 La. 249, 76 So. 702. This was said in a case involving the same question that is presented here, though in a slightly modified form, and, strange to say, the question was brought here from the same court, presided over by the same judge. In our view, the error in the ruling is fatal. No matter what the charge may be, the reputation of the accused cannot be inquired into by the state until the accused himself makes it an issue by attempting to prove his good character,...
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United States v. Waller
...as to bad character, when defendant's reputation has not been put at issue. State v. Suire, 142 La. 101, 76 So. 254; State v. McBeth, 167 La. 324, 119 So. 65; State v. Savoy, 170 La. 803, 129 So. 209; State v. Rives, 193 La. 186, 190 So. 374. 13 State v. Morgan, 211 La. 572, 30 So. 2d 434. ......
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Penwell v. Dist. Of D.C..
... ... 3 Though the rule and its exception are well established, their application to a particular state of facts presents the difficulty. More latitude will be allowed in a civil case than in a criminal case; likewise more latitude will be allowed in a ... United States, 8 Cir., 49 F.2d 538; Holt v. United States, 10 Cir., 94 F.2d 90; People v. Creasy, 236 N.Y. 205, 140 N.E. 563.5 State v. McBeth, 167 La. 324, 119 So. 65; Peck v. Pierce, 63 Conn. 310, 28 A. 524; Robinson v. New York Elevated R. Co., 175 N.Y. 219, 67 N.E. 431.6 Shepard v ... ...
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...not place his character at issue, no evidence of bad reputation is admissible. State v. Rives, 193 La. 186, 190 So. 374; State v. McBeth, 167 La. 324, 119 So. 65. In the present case, the defendant did not testify in his own behalf, nor did he place his character at issue. The question pres......
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State v. Valentine
... ... time when the state is engaged in placing their principal ... case in the record.' ... Perhaps the ... question would have been objectionable if it had been ... propounded on direct examination; because, as said in State ... v. McBeth, 167 La. 324, 119 So. 65, 'no matter what the ... charge may be, the reputation of the accused cannot be ... inquired into by the state until the accused [203 La. 1065] ... himself makes it an issue by attempting to prove his good ... character, or by consenting that his character be shown.' ... ...