38 S.W. 174 | Tex. Crim. App. | 1896
Appellant was convicted of murder in the second degree, and given twenty-five years in the penitentiary. The indictment charged that appellant murdered Robert Thomas. Upon the *536
trial a number of witnesses swore that the deceased's name was Bob Thomas. There was no proof that he bore the name of Robert. Counsel for the appellant contends that the evidence fails to support the allegation that the defendant killed Robert Thomas — that proof that his name was Bob will not suffice. Upon the trial the State introduced as a witness Hon. S.F. Grimes, the presiding judge, who swore that he was familiar with names of persons and contractions thereof; that the name Bob was usually and ordinarily an abbreviation or contraction of the name Robert, and persons who were called Bob were usually named Robert. The objections urged to the testimony were, first, that it came from the trial judge, and was calculated to influence the jury unduly against him; and, second, that the names of persons were not the subject of expert testimony, but a matter of general knowledge. "Jack is an abbreviation of John; Rich, of Richard." See, Bishop's Crim. Proc., § 689. If Jack is an abbreviation of John, evidently Bob is an abbreviation of Robert; and proof that the decessed's name was Bob Thomas meets the allegation that the appellant had killed Robert Thomas. In Walter v. State,
Affirmed.