111 P. 857 | Wyo. | 1910
Lead Opinion
The plaintiff in error, defendant below and who will hereafter be referred to as defendant, was charged by information duly filed in the District Court of Laramie County on June 1, 1909, tried, convicted and judgment pronounced against him for the crime or perjury. He brings the case here on error.
From the record it appears that he was tried in the District Court of Laramie County at the regular December, 1908, term of that court upon a charge of rape. He was sworn and testified as a witness in his own behalf. It is
1. It is urged that the court erred in overruling defendant’s motion to quash the information. Section 6186, Comp. Stat. 1910, is as follows:
“Sec. 6186. A motion to quash may be made in all cases where there is a defect apparent upon the face of the record, including defects in form of the indictment, or in the manner in which the offense is charged.” It will be observed that under our statute the same procedure is applicable to prosecutions upon information as by indictment. (Sec. 6181.) It is stated in the defendant’s brief that: “The motion to quash is principally upon the ground that the information does not sufficiently charge the issue in the cause wherein it is alleged the defendant testified falsely and is so indefinite and uncertain that it does not inform the defendant of the nature of the offense charged against him, and does not state facts sufficient to constitute an offense or crime under the laws of this State.” The charging part of the information is as follows:
“Comes now Charles L- Rigdon, County and Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Daramie, in the State of Wyoming, and in the name and by the authority of the State of Wyoming, informs the court and gives the court to understand that Pete Dickerson, late of the comity aforesaid, on the 17th day of December, A. D. 1908, at the County of Daramie, in the State of Wyoming, before the District Court of the First Judicial District, sitting in and for the County of Daramie, in the State of Wyoming, Hon. R. N. Matson, Judge of said court, presiding, on an issue within the jurisdiction of said court duly joined and tried before a jury of the county in that behalf duly sworn, on a charge of rape, between the State of Wyoming, as plaintiff, and Pete Dickerson, as defendant, did then and there appear as a witness upon the hearing thereof and was in due form of law sworn by said court, having competent authority and full power to administer to him the oath of*460 a witness before said court. Whereupon it then and there became and was a question material to said issue whether the said Pete Dickerson had been diseased with a certain disease named and known as gonorrhea, and to this the said Pete Dickerson did then and there feloniously, knowingly, wilfully, corruptly, and falsely, on such oath as aforesaid, swear, testify and say in substance and effect that he (meaning the said Pete Dickerson) was not at any time diseased with gonorrhea during August (meaning the month of August, 1908) and had never to his knowledge been diseased with gonorrhea; whereas in truth and in fact, as the said Pete Dickerson then and there well knew, said testimony and matters, as aforesaid by him testified to and declared to be true, were false and untrue; and the said Pete Dickerson was diseased with gonorrhea during the month of August, 1908, and had been diseased with gonorrhea both before and after the said month of August, 1908, and had been diseased with gonorrhea prior to the date of his said testimony in said trial, that is to say, prior to the 17th day of December, 1908; and so the said Pete Dickerson did then and there commit wilful and corrupt perjury; contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Wyoming.”
The information charges the defendant with having on a day and year named upon an an issue duly joined wil-fully and corruptly given false testimony in a matter material to such issue during his trial in the District Court of Laramie County upon a charge of rape, the said court having jurisdiction to try such issue. We do not think it necessary under our statute to set out all or part of the testimony to show the connection and thus disclose the materiality of the alleged false testimony. In enumerating the requirements of an information or indictment for perjury it is provided by Sec. 6176 that “it shall be sufficient to set forth the substance of the offense charged upon the defendant.” Under similar statutes a general averment
It is further urged that the information fails to state the date of the alleged rape. That date was alleged in the information which was filed in the rape case and upon the trial of which the defendant is alleged to have committed the perjury. It was therefore a matter of record and under Section 6176, supra, it was not necessary to plead it. The information complies with the provisions of the statute. The defendant was fully informed of the nature •of the charge against him and his contention to the contrary is without merit.
2. The demurrer to the information was properly overruled. It rests upon the same ground as the motion to quash, which motion as already stated was properly denied.
3. A plea in bar tenders the issue of former acquittal, conviction or pardon for the identical offense charged. (Sec. 6195, Comp. Raws.) The plea in this case set up the fact that the defendant had been charged, tried and acquitted of the crime of rape in the District Court of Raramie County on the 18th day of December, 1908, by a jury duly impaneled and sworn to try the issue joined. The offense of which he was acquitted was rape, whereas he is here charged with the crime of perjury. The plea was, therefore, insufficient and should have been met with a demurrer, but, even so, the striking of the plea as frivolous though error was harmless.
4. It is urged that the court erred in admitting in evidence the court files in the rape case. As this was not made a ground in the motion for a new trial it is not before this court and need not be considered.
5. T. Paul Wilcox, the official court reporter who reported the evidence in the rape case, was called as a witness and testified on behalf of the state. He was permitted without objection as to correctness of a transcript of his stenographic notes to read therefrom so much of the evi
Upon the record here presented the instructions which were requested by the defendant upon this phase of the case properly stated the law and could properly have been given. However, the law is where the jury could not have been misled or when a fair inference may be drawn from the record that no prejudice has resulted to the accused the judgment should not be reversed. Had the oral evidence of these witnesses or either of them been materially different from that given upon defendant’s former trial on the charge of rape, or had they or either of them not been called as witnesses in this case it would have raised a question not presented by the record. We are of the opinion that upon the record here presented neither the proof nor reception in the presence of the jury of the evidence given by them upon the trial of the rape case nor the failure to-give the requested instruction constituted prejudicial error.
5. The court refused to strike out the evidence of each of the witnesses, Kelley, Fitzsimmons, Drake and Smith, who testified as witnesses on behalf of the state.' The motions were several and the rulings are separately assigned as error, but for convenience the assignments may be considered together. Their evidence tended to show that they were inmates of the Laramie County jail at the time defendant was confined therein awaiting his trial upon the charge of rape, Kelly on and after November 7, and the last three being inmates at the time defendant was arrested, on or about September 10, 1908, continuously to the time of his release upon the verdict returned upon his trial in the rape case. The evidence of Fitzsimmons, Drake and Smith tended to show that the defendant was diseased with
The evidence of Fitzsimmons, Drake and Smith tended to show that the defendant was diseased with and doctoring himself for gonorrhea during all the time they were confined in jail with him. Their evidence referred to defendant’s condition of health after August 7, 1908, the date of the-alleged rape. It will be remembered that there was evidence-tending to show that defendant was so diseased prior to and at the time of the assault, and that being so, evidence-of defendant’s condition of health within a reasonable time subsequent to the assault was, we think, circumstantial evidence relevant to the issue as to whether he was so diseased at the time of the alleged assault. As to what would be a reasonable time within which the subsequent condition of health would be permitted to be shown rested largely in the discretion of the court. The assault is alleged to have-occurred on August 7, 1908, and the defendant was not confined in jail until September 10th, following. It is true that he might have been infected subsequently to the
6. The defendant requested the. court to instruct the jury as follows: “You. are hereby instructed that the defendant, Pete Dickerson, is charged with feloniously, knowingly, wilfully and corruptly and falsely testifying under ■oath on said 17th day of December, 1908, that he, the said Dickerson, was not at any time, during the month of August, 1908, diseased with gonorrhea, and that he had never to his knowledge been diseased with gonorrhea, and before you can convict the defendant, under the information in this case, you must find beyond a reasonable doubt that the said Pete Dickerson was afflicted with said disease in the ■month of August, 1908, and that he had been at some other time during his life, and to his knowledge, afflicted with .said disease, and unless you find beyond a reasonable doubt that he was so diseased, at some time during his life, and that he was also afflicted with such disease in August, 1908, your verdict must be for the defendant.” Over the ob
“You are hereby instructed that the defendant, Pete Dickerson, is charged with feloniously, knowingly, wilfully, corruptly and falsely testifying under oath on said 17th day of December, 1908, that he, the said Dickerson, was not at any time, during the month of August, 1908, diseased with gonorrhea, and that he had never to his knowledge been diseased with gonorrhea and before you can convict the defendant under the information in this case you must find beyond a reasonable doubt that the said Pete Dickerson was afflicted with said disease, in the month of August, 1908, or that he has been at some other time during his life, and to his knowledge afflicted with said disease, and unless you find beyond a reasonable doubt that he was so diseased at some time during his life, or had such disease in August, 1908, your verdict must be for the defendant.”
To the modification of the instruction as originally requested and giving the instruction as modified, the defendant objected and excepted. This action of the court is assigned as error. It is urged that in order to convict, the jury should have been told that they must find from the evidence that the defendant was diseased in August, 1908,, and that although he may have been diseased prior thereto, yet that was not sufficient, and that the use of the words “that he was so diseased at some time during his life or had such disease in August, 1908,” was misleading. As already stated, it became material -to show the condition of defendant's health at the time of the alleged rape. The evidence tended to show that the defendant was arrested on the charge of rape in the early part of September following the alleged assault. The evidence was conflicting as to whether he had a venereal disease during his confinement in jail. Several witnesses who were inmates of the jail at the time testified that he was doctoring himself for gonorrhea and one testified that the defendant told him that he had cured himself a year or two before in Arizona of'
7. Dr. Shingle testified as a witness on behalf of the defendant to the effect that he assisted Dr. Kieffer either on September 20, 21 or 22, 1908, in making an examination of the defendant and certain tests to determine whether or not the defendant was then or could have been in the preceding August afflicted with gonorrhea. The defendant testified that Dr. Kieffer made several examinations, and as. to how he was physically examined. These examinations were all made while the defendant was confined in.the Laramie County jail, and prior to his trial upon the charge of rape. Upon that trial Dr. Kieffer testified as a witness on behalf of the defendant. He departed this life on January 31, 1909. T. Paul Wilcox was recalled as a witness to testify in behalf of the defendant. After- he retook the witness stand the following questions were asked and proceedings were had, viz:
Q. You are the same T. Paul Wilcox who testified on behalf of the plaintiff in this case?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And you took down in shorthand all the testimony that was given on the stand-by witnesses in the case of the State of Wyoming v. Pete Dickerson, in which Pete Dickerson was charged with rape?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You may state whether or not Dr. Kieffer was a witness on the trial of that case ?
A. ' He was.
O. Plave you a transcript of his testimony ?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Will you turn to it, please, and — have you transcribed your shorthand notes of the testimony of Dr. Charles P. Kieffer?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And is that the transcript you have before you?
A. Yes, sir.
*471 Q. Is that a correct transcript of the testimony given on the trial of that case, by Dr. Kieffer?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And all of it, is it?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Does this transcript also include the evidence given by Dr. Kieffer on cross-examination?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. He was cross-examined by counsel for the State in -that case, was he?
A. Yes, sir.
By Mr. Kinkead: Now, if the Court please, we offer the transcript of the evidence of Dr. Charles F. Kieffer, a witness in the case of the State of Wyoming v. Pete Dick■erson, in which said Pete Dickerson was on trial in this ■court on the charge of rape under an indictment charging him with rape, the said Charles F. Kieffer, whose testimony is now offered, being the same Charles F. Kieffer whom the witness Dr. Delroy Shingle testified as being dead.
By Mr. Ross: That is objected to as incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant. The evidence offered in testimony was evidence taken in another case in which the defendant was charged with the crime of rape, and for the further reason that the witness cannot be cross-examined by counsel for the State in this case and we have a right to cross-•examine the witnesses who testify on the part of the defense.
By Mr. Kinkead: We submit that this witness has been ■cross-examined on behalf of the State on the very questions now at issue in this case.
By the Court: I would like to hear the testimony of Dr. Kieffer, if there is any rule of evidence by which it is ■competent.
By Mr. Kinkead: Dr. Kieffer is dead.
By the Court: I know, and I don’t know how you áre. ■going to get a dead man’s testimony, or how you are going to cross-examine him..
*472 By Mi'. Kinkead: We can present authorities in the morning that we think sustain our right to show the admissibility of this testimony.
By the Court: You couldn't convince me with authorities. This is not a new matter; I have had it before. It has been held in some cases, such, for instance, as murder,, where the witness was the only witness, and then only on certain facts, that such evidence might be produced by reading certain extracts only on certain things, and here you have the testimony of one witness on the same thing.
By Mr. Kinkead: If the Court please, I desire to make my offer more complete and make the record more complete. I desire to state that the purpose of this offer is to show that-
By the Court: You needn’t state that in the presence of the jury. Write it out and hand it to the stenographer, so. as to make the record correct.
By Mr. Kinkead: Exception.
In accordance with the direction of the court the offer was written out and filed with the stenographer.
The exception as shown by the part of the record above set out does not go further than the refusal of the court to permit the offer to be made in the presence of the jury, and the direction of the court to write out the offer and hand it to the stenographer. The preceding colloquy between court and counsel may indicate what the court’s ruling would be upon an offer to prove certain facts by the former testimony of the deceased witness. It was not, however, a ruling upon such offer nor does the record show that after complying with the direction of the court by writing-out his offer and handing it to the stenographer he presented it to or invoked a ruling of the court or that there was any ruling thereon.
8. The defendant assigns as error the giving of instruction No. 3. A reference to the motion for a new trial shows that this instruction was not mentioned except as follows in any of the grounds upon which a new trial was
We discover no prejudicial error in the record and the judgment will be affirmed. • Affirmed.
Rehearing
on petition eor rehearing.
The plaintiff in error has filed a petition for rehearing in this case. In the fourth paragraph of the original opinion •it was said as to the contention that the trial court erred in admitting the files in the case in which the perjury was
It is strongly urged that there should be a rehearing for the purpose of a re-examination of the objection to the admission in evidence of certain testimony given upon the trial of the defendant wherein the perjury is alleged to have been committed. That testimony was offered and admitted for the purpose of showing the materiality of the alleged false statements of the defendant, and we held that the error in admitting it without an instruction properly limiting its effect was not prejudicial for the reason that the same witnesses testified in the present case to substantially the same facts. It is earnestly contended that in so holding this court erred, and it is urged that the testimony could have served no other purpose than to inflame the minds of the jury to a point where their reason would become practically dethroned, and passion, hatred, ill-will and prejudice would control their deliberations, as a result of the recital of the facts of the assault claimed by the prosecutrix to have been perpetrated upon her by the defendant. Counsel say in the present brief: “The fact that defendant’s counsel was protesting before the jury rightfully against the introduction of this incompetent testimony, and the fact that he was insisting that proper in-sructions should be given the jury as to the plain, legal and just rights to which the defendant was entitled, and the jury being permitted to constantly observe counsel’s repeated defeats at the hands of the court, amounted to nothing less than a statement by the court to the jury that the positions of the plaintiff in error and his counsel were wrong, and they were therefore at liberty to draw any inference or conclusion from the testimony that they saw fit, no matter how detrimental or unjust or prejudicial it might be to the defendant. It was equivalent to a statement to the jury
Counsel seem to assume that we held the evidence given upon the former trial, the part which was offered and admitted in this case, to be incompetent, and that it was error to permit it to be read in the presence of the jury; and there is a statement in the former opinion from which that might perhaps be inferred unless taken in connection with other statements following it. It was said that the evidence was competent upon the question of the materiality of defendant’s evidence upon which the perjury is assigned, but was not competent for the purpose of proving the perjury,
It may be conceded that the testimony shown to have been given by the prosecutrix in the rape case and her physician, which was admitted to show the materiality in that case of the testimony of defendant upon which the charge of perjury was based, would be prejudicial to the defendant, without a proper instruction as to the purpose for which it might be considered, had the same witnesses not been sworn in the present case and had they not testified to the same facts. But they were sworn and did testify to substantially the same facts in this case, and what is perhaps more significant the details of the assault upon the prosecutrix in the rape case were brought out in her testimony given by her in the present case on persistent cross-examination by defendant’s counsel. As it covered practically the entire ground of that part of her former testimony which had been admitted to show materiality, and did not vary therefrom, if such facts would have the effect upon the minds of the jury as stated by counsel, the verbal testimony of the prosecutrix on the trial of the
The exception to instruction No. 3 requested by the prosecution was disposed of in our former opinion upon the. principle that as that instruction was not mentioned in the-motion for a new trial except as one of a group of instructions excepted to, and as the others, or, as stated in the-opinion, “nearly all the instructions contained in this group complained of correctly state the law,” the correctness or incorrectness of the third instruction is not properly presented by the record. The instruction thus complained of defined “reasonable doubt.” Our attention is called to the-rule followed by this court in Palmer v. State, 9 Wyo. 49, viz: that where the instructions for the State present as a. whole an erroneous view of the law as applied to the facts of the case on trial a general objection to such instructions, is sufficient. We do not think that rule applicable to the case-at bar.
We have carefully considered the able brief filed in support of the petition for rehearing upon the other points.