71 Miss. 196 | Miss. | 1893
delivered the opinion of the court.
No error was committed by the court in the trial of this case, but in our opinion the verdict should not be permitted to stand. It is true that conviction of this detestable crime may be had on the uncorroborated testimony of the person raped, but it should always be scrutinized with caution, and where there is much, in the facts and circumstances in evidence to discredit her testimony, it is not sufficient to sustain a verdict of guilty. 1 Hale, 635 et seq.; Innis v. State, 42 Ga., 473; People v. Hulse, 3 Hill, 309; 19 Am. & Eng. Enc. L., p. 958.
The observations of the court in People v. Hulse, 3 Hill, 309, are just and appropriate, and commend themselves to our judgment.
There is much in the testimony of the girl charged to have been raped by thé accused, to throw doubt on her testimony. There is not a single corroborating circumstance to support
The alleged rape occurred at 12 o’clock, noon, and, although it was on a plantation, she made no complaint to any neighbor. Although there was a horn at hand, the blowing of which was a signal of something unusual having occurred at the house, it was not blown for this unusual (?) occurrence. The girl waited at home until about night, when, having told her little brother, she says, who said he was going “to tell ma,” she went to meet her mothei’, and told her. The strong probability is that the account of the affair given by the accused is correct, and that the girl consented, and, having been detected by the little brother, or from some other cause, she determined to tell. We regard her testimony as incredible, and are not willing for the terrible consequences of the verdict to he visited upon the accused until a fuller investigation shall he had, which will, no doubt, result in his conviction again, if he is guilty.
While profoundly impressed with the necessity for a rigid enforcement of the laws against crime, and particularly those protecting human life, so often disregarded with impunity, we are unwilling to sanction a conviction on evidence which
It is true now as when uttered in words of wisdom thousands of years ago, that “ wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense,” and its potency is often felt in criminal trials. It is not that the law makes a difference or that judges make a difference or that juries may recognize a distinction on account of riches or poverty, but it results chiefly from the advantage which money gives him who has it over him who has it not in securing its possessor every opportunity for a successful defense. It secures counsel and friends and witnesses, and the benefit of every favorable circumstance to tell in favor of the accused. It is true, in the nature of things, that the man who has ample means of defense has the advantage of him who is less fortunate. Hence, the disposition, which we are not ashamed
Reversed and remanded.