Welch v. State
Decision Date | 16 October 1926 |
Citation | 289 S.W. 510,154 Tenn. 60 |
Parties | WELCH v. STATE. |
Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
Appeal in Error to Circuit Court, Claiborne County; W. H. Buttram Judge.
James Welch was convicted of possessing a still, and he appeals assigning error. Reversed, and remanded for new trial.
J. H S. Morison, of Cumberland Gap, and J. R. Ketron and Wm. I Davis, both of Tazewell, for plaintiff in error.
The Attorney General, for the State.
The plaintiff in error was convicted of possessing a still, and has appealed to this court and assigned errors.
The uncontroverted facts are that the sheriff entered upon the premises of the plaintiff in error and began searching around, and, in a dugout in a lot, found a still and some beer. Said lot contained about one acre of land, was more than 300 yards from the residence of plaintiff in error, was entirely inclosed with a wire fence, and was used by the plaintiff in error for confining his stock and hogs. From this fence another fence extended beyond and inclosed the barn of plaintiff in error.
The sheriff had no search warrant, and entered said lot by letting down the bars.
The plaintiff in error did not testify, and seasonable objection was made to the testimony of the sheriff, but his testimony was admitted upon the theory set out in the following excerpt of the charge:
Counsel for the plaintiff in error ask a reversal upon the ground that said testimony of the sheriff was incompetent, and also because that portion of the charge, quoted above, is an erroneous statement of the law.
Article 1, § 7, of the Constitution is as follows:
"That the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions, from unreasonable searches and seizures."
This same provision of the Constitution was contained in the Constitutions of 1834 and 1796.
In our opinion, the word "possessions" was added for a purpose, and means more than houses or mansions, something in addition thereto. We see no reason why this word should not be given the ordinary meaning ascribed to it by lexicographers. In our opinion, it refers to property, real or personal, actually possessed or occupied.
The word "possession" is thus defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: "The having, holding, or detention of property in one's power or command."
"Actual possession" is thus defined in 31 Cyc. 926, to wit:
To continue reading
Request your trial-
State v. Jennette
...(1965); Allison v. State, 189 Tenn. 67, 222 S.W.2d 366 (1949); Peters v. State, 187 Tenn. 455, 215 S.W.2d 822 (1948); Welch v. State, 154 Tenn. 60, 289 S.W. 510 (1926). The framers of Article I, Sec. 7 intentionally included the word "possessions" "to limit searches of real and personal pro......
-
State v. Dixson
...479 (1929) (the word, "possessions," in section 23 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 includes unenclosed lands); Welch v. State, 154 Tenn. 60, 289 S.W. 510 (1926) (hog lot, enclosed by a fence and occupied by the defendant as a necessary part of his farming operation, was a "possessio......
-
Skipper v. State, 4 Div. 781
...that evidence secured without a search warrant, was illegal and inadmissible. Barnard v. State, 155 Miss. 390, 124 So. 479; Welch v. State, 154 Tenn. 60, 289 S.W. 510. "However, in the cases of Hester v. United States, 265 U.S. 57, 44 S.Ct. 445, 68 L.Ed. 898; Atwell v. United States, 5 Cir.......
-
State v. Killion, No. E2008-01350-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Crim. App. 6/22/2009)
...house, used in connection therewith in the conduct of family affairs and for carrying on domestic purposes." Welch v. State, 154 Tenn. 60, 64, 289 S.W. 510, 511 (1926). In Welch, our supreme court said that the term "houses" used in article I, section 7, of the Tennessee Constitution "would......
-
§ 6.06 OPEN FIELDS
...1929) (an open field is subject to state constitutional protection); People v. Scott, 593 N.E.2d 1328 (N.Y. 1992) (same); Welch v. State, 289 S.W. 510 (Tenn. 1926) (same); State v. Kirchoff, 587 A.2d 988 (Vt. 1991) (same); State v. Myrick, 688 P.2d 151 (Wash. 1984) (same); see also State v.......
-
§ 6.06 Open Fields
...1929) (an open field is subject to state constitutional protection); People v. Scott, 593 N.E.2d 1328 (N.Y. 1992) (same); Welch v. State, 289 S.W. 510 (Tenn. 1926) (same); State v. Kirchoff, 587 A.2d 988 (Vt. 1991) (same); State v. Myrick, 688 P.2d 151 (Wash. 1984) (same); see also State v.......
-
TABLE OF CASES
..., 151 Weatherford v. Bursey, 429 U.S. 545 (1977) , 49 Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914), 53, 337, 340, 341, 342 Welch v. State, 289 S.W. 510 (Tenn. 1926), 83 Welfare of E.D.J., In re, 502 N.W.2d 779 (Minn. 1993), 118 Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740 (1984), 152, 155 Wheat v. Unite......
-
Table of Cases
..., 163 Weatherford v. Bursey, 429 U.S. 545 (1977), 524 Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914), 57, 113, 366, 368, 369 Welch v. State, 289 S.W. 510 (Tenn. 1926), 88 Welfare of E.D.J., In re, 502 N.W.2d 779 (Minn. 1993), 127 Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740 (1984), 164, 168 Wheat v. Unite......