118 Ark. 419 | Ark. | 1915
Appellant is charged with the crime of administering poison to a certain horse named “Wat-tan”, the property of one W. H. Shanks. The indictment charges that appellant knowingly administered strychnine to snid horse, and was framed under the •following statute:
“Every person who shall knowingly /administer any poison to .any horse, ass, ¡mule or to any cattle, hog, •sheep, goat or dog, or maliciously expose any poisonous .substance with intent that the same shall be taken or swallowed by 'any of the aforesaid animals, shall on conviction be punished in the manner prescribed by law for feloniously .stealing property of the value of the animal so poisoned; and the jury who shall try such case shall assess the amount of damages, if any /actual damage ■has Occurred, occasioned by .such poisoning or intent to poison, ¡and the court 'shall render judgment in favor of the party injured for threefold the 'amount so assessed by the jury.” Kirby’s Digest, § 1892.
The evidence /addutoed on the trial wias mainly to establish /circumstances which tended to show that appellant administered the poison to the horse and that the horse died from the effects .of it. The owner found the -horse dead in the stall when he went out to feed early in the morning, and there is sufficient testimony to connect the defendant circumstantially with the /commission of the crime.
There ¡are ¡many other assignments of error which need not be discussed for the reason that the same matters may not arise in the next trial.
For the error iof the court, however, in refusing to ■allow appellant to challenge the venireman who was a justice of 'the peace, the judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial. ■'