75 So. 646 | Ala. Ct. App. | 1917
The court had the witnesses before it, was able to observe their demeanor on the stand, and, holding to the long line of decisions in this state on this point, this court will not disturb the findings on the facts in this case.
Wherever it is manifest, either by the indictment or by the evidence, that an attempt is being made to convict the defendant of two or more offenses growing out of separate and distinct transactions, the court will grant a timely motion to require the state to elect, and if the state refused to elect, the indictment will be quashed. Wooster v. State,
The doctrine of election has a field of operation for the protection of defendants in their substantial rights and protects them from being prosecuted for more than one offense in the same count of an indictment; but they must not be permitted to use a shadow with which to invoke a technicality, and thereby escape the just punishment for crime. In the Brooms Case,
The above does not apply to violations of the prohibition laws where offenses are charged in separate counts.
We find no error in the record, and the judgment is affirmed.
Affirmed.