Tines v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 11 December 1903
• Citation: 77 S.W. 363
• Parties: TINES v. COMMONWEALTH.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

77 S.W. 363

TINES v. COMMONWEALTH.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

December 11, 1903

Appeal from Circuit Court, Graves County.

"Not to be officially reported."

Tom Tines was convicted of crime, and appeals. Reversed.

B. C Seay and Saml. H. Crossland, for appellant.

Clifton J. Pratt, for the Commonwealth.

BARKER J.

The appellant, Tom Tines, was indicted by the grand jury of Graves county, charged with the offense of feloniously breaking into the warehouse of Will Ryburn, and taking and carrying away therefrom one set of buggy harness, the personal property of Ryburn. Upon trial he was convicted, and sentenced to one year in the penitentiary.

It was conclusively shown by the commonwealth that Ryburn's warehouse or barn was feloniously broken into, and his harness stolen therefrom, in July, 1901, and that about a year afterward the harness was found in the possession of one Hicks. The only evidence in any way tending to connect appellant, Tines, with the affair, is his own affidavit which the acting county attorney procured from him under the guise of using it as evidence against the unknown perpetrators of the crime. This affidavit is as follows "T. J. Tines, being sworn, states: 'Last fall I went to see one of the Mangrums--I think his name was Ed--about buying some hogs to fatten, and I met a man here at the church southwest of Boaz Station, who said he had sold his buggy, and wanted to sell his harness. He had the harness in his hack or buggy. Said he wanted to sell me a pair of harness. I told him that I didn't particular need the harness, and he said he would sell me a pair cheap. I told him that, while I didn't particularly need a pair, I would buy a pair. He offered to sell them to me for five dollars. I finally bought them at that figure, and paid him the money for them. I think probably I had the harness more than a month when I sold them to Hicks, but I am not sure as to the time. I was coming towards home when I met the man that I got the harness from. He was traveling south, I think. He was a medium-sized negro. Seemed to be a middle-aged man. Don't know that I ever met him before or not. I traded it to U.S. Hicks for a double-barreled shotgun-- breech-loading shotgun. I give him seven dollars to boot. This trade took place with Hicks some time after Christmas --something near a month after Christmas. I got the gear some time in the fall from the negro. Couldn't tell when. Don't know the month. Couldn't say whether it was the fore part or the latter part of the fall. Don't know whether it was in the middle of the fall or not. Don't know whether it was in September, October, or November. Can't...