State v. Singleton
| Decision Date | 15 March 1922 |
| Docket Number | 88. |
| Citation | 110 S.E. 846,183 N.C. 738 |
| Parties | STATE v. SINGLETON. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Appeal from Superior Court, Wayne County; Cranmer, Judge.
Laura Singleton was convicted of an offense, and she appeals. New trial granted.
Criminal prosecution tried upon an indictment charging the defendant with having willfully and unlawfully rented rooms in her house for purposes of prostitution in violation of chapter 215, Public Laws 1919.
The state offered three witnesses, policemen of the city of Goldsboro, who testified in effect that they had seen men going in and out of defendant's house; that her reputation was bad; and that one Mira Brown had been heard to swear in the presence of the defendant that she occupied one of her rooms for immoral purposes. The officers witnessed no acts of immorality.
The defendant offered no evidence.
There was a verdict and judgment against the defendant, from which she appealed, assigning errors.
Under the evidence in a prosecution for renting rooms for purposes of prostitution, directed verdict of guilty held erroneous.
J. F Thomson, of Goldsboro, for appellant.
J. S Manning, Atty. Gen., and Frank Nash, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
At the close of the evidence, his honor charged the jury as follows:
To this instruction the defendant excepted, and the same is assigned as error. We think the exception is well taken, and, under a uniform line of decisions, it must be held for reversible error. State v. Alley, 180 N.C. 663, 104 S.E. 365; State v. Boyd, 175 N.C. 793, 95 S.E. 161; Brooks v. Mill Co., 182 N.C. 260, 108 S.E. 725, and cases there cited.
The defendant entered on the trial with the common-law presumption of innocence in her favor. Her plea of not guilty cast upon the state the burden of establishing her guilt, not merely to the satisfaction of the jury, but beyond a reasonable doubt. The evidence here was not compelling. The jury might have believed it and yet acquitted the defendant. Furthermore, it is error for the trial judge to direct a verdict in a criminal action, where there is no admission or presumption, calling for explanation or reply on the part of the defendant. State v. Hill, 141 N.C. 769, 53 S.E 311; State v. Riley, 113 N.C. 651, 18...
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...194 N.C. 260, 139 S.E. 374; State v. Tucker, 190 N.C. 708, 130 S.E. 720; State v. Arrowood, 187 N.C. 715, 122 S.E. 759; State v. Singleton, 183 N.C. 738, 110 S.E. 846; State v. Windley, 178 N.C. 670, 100 S.E. 116. A judge commits prejudicial error if he gives jury an instruction which depri......
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... ... [51 S.E.2d 356] ... III ... Exceptions to the charge: The defendant entered upon the ... trial with the common-law presumption of innocence in his ... favor and with the burden on the prosecution to establish his ... guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Singleton, ... 183 N.C. 738, 110 S.E. 846. His plea of traverse put his ... guilt in issue. State v. Harvey, 228 N.C. 62, 44 ... S.E.2d 472. On the trial he neither admitted the killing, nor ... did he take the witness stand. It was therefore incumbent ... upon the prosecution to make out the case in ... ...
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