Webster v. State
| Citation | 93 So. 545,207 Ala. 668 |
| Decision Date | 22 June 1922 |
| Docket Number | 7 Div. 277. |
| Parties | WEBSTER v. STATE. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Alabama |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Shelby County; W. L. Longshore, Judge.
George Webster was convicted of murder in the first degree, and he appeals. Reversed and remanded.
Riddle & Ellis, of Columbiana, and William M. Lackey, of Ashland for appellant.
Harwell G. Davis, Atty. Gen., for the State.
Appellant was convicted of murder in the first degree, and his punishment fixed at life imprisonment, and from the judgment of conviction he prosecutes this appeal.
The defendant killed one Hartsfield by cutting him with a knife and the evidence for the state tended to sustain the conviction, while that offered for the defendant tended to support the plea of justification under the doctrine of self-defense. The defendant did not offer to put in issue the general good character of the deceased, but he did offer proof to the effect that only a short time before the difficulty the deceased had made an insulting proposal to his wife and daughter, which had been communicated to him the night before. In rebuttal the state proved by numerous witnesses the general good character of the deceased in the community in which he lived. Appropriate objections were interposed to the testimony of each witness as to the character of deceased, which objections were overruled; and this question is the one given first consideration by counsel for appellant on this appeal.
It is a well-recognized general rule that in homicide cases ordinarily the character or reputation of the deceased is not involved as an issue, and that proof relative thereto is generally inadmissible. 21 Cyc. 907; 1 Greenleaf on Evidence (16th Ed.) 40; Commonwealth v. Tircinski, 189 Mass 257, 75 N.E. 261, 2 L. R. A. (N. S.) 102, 4 Ann. Cas. 337 and authorities cited in the note. There are of course exceptions to the rule, such as in cases of self-defense, where the character of the deceased for peace and quiet may shed light upon the issue involved, and the evidence is of such a character as to justify the state in offering testimony in rebuttal of that of defendant to establish the general character of the deceased for peace and quiet. Hussey v. State, 87 Ala. 121, 6 So. 420; Franklin v. State, 29 Ala. 14; Eiland v. State, 52 Ala. 322; Quesenberry v. State, 3 Stew. & P. 308; 21 Cyc. 908, 909.
The trial court was of the opinion that the evidence of ...
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Henderson v. State
...of the deceased in a murder trial is not involved as an issue, and proof relative thereto is generally inadmissible. Webster v. State, 207 Ala. 668, 93 So. 545 (1922). Such a rule of law is weighed in the consideration that the law does not distinguish between the killing of an evil person ......
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Bankston v. State
...of the deceased in a murder trial is not involved as an issue, and proof relative thereto is generally inadmissible. Webster v. State, 207 Ala. 668, 93 So. 545 (1922). Such a rule of law is weighted in the consideration that the law does not distinguish between the killing of an evil person......
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Nobles v. State
......Especially is this true. where the defendant pleads,. [7 So.2d 772] . and invokes, the doctrine of self-defense. Sanford v. State, 2 Ala.App. 81, 57 So. 134; Montgomery v. State, 2 Ala.App. 25, 31, 56 So. 92; Styles v. State, 5 Ala.App. 36, 59 So. 698; Webster v. State, 207 Ala. 668, 93 So. 545. In Webster's case,. the Supreme Court (speaking through present Chief Justice. Gardner) said: "It is a well-recognized general rule. that in homicide cases ordinarily the character or reputation. of the deceased is not involved as an issue, and that proof. ......
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Caylor v. State
...v. State, 133 Ala. 18(27), 32 So. 141; Ben (a slave) v. State, 37 Ala. 103; Kennedy v. State, 140 Ala. 1, 37 So. 90; Webster v. State, 207 Ala. 668, 93 So. 545." Isom v. State, 27 Ala.App. 488, 489, 174 So. 538, 539 This is in accord with the favored view held by Wigmore and McCormick. McCo......