108 So. 446 | Miss. | 1926
This evidence was admitted over the appellant's objection, the ground of which was that a proper predicate for the admission of the evidence had not been laid. For the purpose of this discussion we will assume that the track which the dogs tracked to the appellant was sufficiently identified as having been made by the person who fired the shot which killed the deceased.
The fact that a bloodhound, when shown a track at or near the place where the person who committed the crime must have stood when committing it, tracked definitely therefrom to the accused is a circumstance indicating that the crime was probably committed by the accused. "Nevertheless, in actual usage, this evidence is apt to be highly misleading, to the danger of innocent men. Amidst the popular excitement attendant on a murder and the chase of the suspect, all the facts upon which the trustworthiness of the inference rests are apt to be distorted in the testimony. Moreover, the very limited nature of the inference possible is apt to be over-estimated — a consequence dangerous when the jurors are moved by local prejudice." 1 Wigmore on Evidence (2 Ed.), section 177. Consequently, such evidence is admissible only after preliminary proof that the bloodhound which tracked to the accused is pure bred, has been well trained to track human beings, has been well tested by tracking other men and found reliable, and that the track from which the bloodhound tracked to the accused was made by the person who committed the crime. Spears v. State,
The evidence here fails to meet this test, for it does not appear therefrom: (1) That the bloodhounds were pure bred and (2) had been tested by tracking other men and found reliable. The statement by the owner of the dogs that they were subject to registration proves nothing as to the purity of their breed, for, in addition to the opinion feature thereof, it does not appear what the qualifications for the registration of bloodhounds are, nor what the character and authority is of the person or board that determines the right of a bloodhound to be registered and keeps the record thereof. One, and probably the only sure, test of the reliability of a bloodhound in tracking human beings is to put it repeatedly in a track known to have been made by a particular person, and see if it will track therefrom to that person. These tests should be so made as to demonstrate that the dog will continue to follow the same track and not leave it for another.
For the error in admitting this evidence, the judgment of the court below will be reversed and the cause remanded.
Reversed and remanded.