97 Cal. 224 | Cal. | 1893
Defendant was convicted of perjury, and appeals from the judgment, and from an order denying a new trial.
It is charged in the information that the appellant, Lem You, gave certain false and material testimony on the trial of one Wong Ark for the alleged murder of a woman named Goot Gue, who was shot in or in front
There is great conflict of evidence as to whether or not the said testimony of the appellant was false, and .appellant makes no point as to the sufficiency of the evidence to justify the jury in finding that said testimony was false. But appellant contends that the court com.mitted several errors in ruling upon the admissibility •of evidence, and in instructing the jury.
1. For the purpose of showing the materiality of the ¡alleged, false testimony of appellant, the prosecution •offered evidence of the testimony which two witnesses named Rohn and Bevan gave at the said trial of said "Wong Ark. (There were two or three trials of the said .Ark, but the alleged false testimony occurred at the first •of said trials.) To this evidence appellant objected, .as incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial, because appellant, not being present when said testimony was given, had no opportunity to examine or cross-examine said witnesses, because said Bohn was living within the jurisdiction, and should have been called himself, and because Bevan having since died, there is no rule by which his former testimony can be introduced in this cause. The court overruled the objections, and appellant excepted.
The ruling of the court was right. The purpose was, not to produce said testimony anew, as tending to prove the facts stated therein: it was offered merely for the purpose of showing as a fact that such testimony had been given, and it was expressly limited by the court to that purpose. The materiality of alleged false testimony does not always appear upon its face, or when simply compared with the indictment; it may be material on account of certain other testimony which had been previously introduced on the trial of a cause. The testimony of a witness may be material when contradicting a part of the testimony given by another witness which is material, or if going to the credit or discredit of other witnesses, etc. For instance, if, on the trial of A for a
The said previous testimony of said Rohn and Sevan was read by F. H. Longley, the official stenographic reporter of the court, from his transcript of notes of the testimony, which he testified to be correct; and appellant seeks to make the point that said transcript was not admissible evidence. But we do not think that the point whether or not a certified transcript of the reporter’s notes would, as an independent document, have been admissible arises in this case. Mr. Longley was sworn as a witness, and testified that he had taken such notes, and that they were correct, and he was allowed, to read them, and was subject, of course, to cross-examination; and his testifying from his notes was clearly admissible, under section 2047 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Rone of the authorities cited by appellant are applicable to this point.
2. Appellant makes the contention that the court erred in instructing the jury, for the reason, among others, that in one part of the instructions given the
The question of the materiality of evidence, no matter when or how it may arise, is always one of law for the court, and not of fact for the jury. It usually arises in the ordinary trial of a cause, where one party offers evidence, and the other objects to it as immaterial; and in that case it would be clear to every one that the question was for the court. But the question is exactly the same when, on a trial for perjury, the materiality of the alleged false testimony arises. Of course, a jury, in rendering a general verdict in a criminal case, necessarily has the naked power to decide all the questions arising on the general issue of not guilty; but it only has the right to find the facts, and apply to them the law as given by the court. And on a trial for perjury, it is the duty of the court to instruct the jury as to what facts would
It is not clear from the record whether or not appellant makes a specific objection to the correctness of said instruction No. 2, given by the court on its own motion; but as we think said instruction was wrong, although the method pursued in it was right, and as the case may probably be tried again, we think it proper to notice it. It appears that on the said trial of Wong Ark the witness Rohn testified, in substance, that at the time the woman Goot Gue received the mortal wound, he, the witness, was about 140 yards from where she lived; that he heard a police-whistle in the neighborhood of where she lived, and immediately proceeded to that place; that he found Goot Gue lying in front of the house, suffering from a gunshot wound; that there were only a few persons there at the time; that another man, named Roper, who was on horseback, appeared at the scene at about the same time; and that he (Rohn) and Roper carried the woman Goot Gue into the house. Now, the appellant herein, Lem You, testified, among other things, that he heard the shot at the same time, being at another point near the place of the shooting; that he, the appellant, and one Ah Tet, also went immediately to the place, and also found the woman lying on the sidewalk, shot; that when he got there, there were a good many people present, but that neither Rohn nor Roper had come; that two other Chinamen carried the
It may be well, also, to notice the third instruction, given by the court of its own motion. It seems that the appellant testified that when he approached the woman on the sidewalk, he asked her who shot her, and she replied that she did not know, and it appears further, that the witness Bevan testified that on the next day, about eleven o’clock, a. m., the said Goot Gue told him, in substance, that Wong Ark killed her. The court told the jury that the testimony of the appellant as to what Goot Gue told him was material, if the jury believed that the statement made the next day by her to Bevan was a dying declaration, — at least that is the way we construe the instruction. If the statement of Goot Gue made to Bevan was made under such circurntances that it was admissible as a dying declaration, vhen said testimony of defendant was probably material, because it might have affected in some degree the truth
3. We think the court erred in refusing to allow appellant to ask of the witness Ah Lung, on cross-examination, the question, “ Who took you up to the district attorney’s office?” although this error may not be of great importance. The said Ah Lung had testified that he was present and saw Wong Ark shoot Goot Gue; that he was not a witness on the first trial of Wong Ark, and had told no person what he knew about the shooting until he was picked up on the street during the second trial of Wong Ark, and taken to the district attorney’s office. This conduct of the witness was rather suspicious; and for the purpose of showing how he came, at so late a time, to tell what he knew about the case, we think it was not improper to ask him upon whose suggestion he went to see the district attorney.
The record does not disclose any other error, and we do not deem it necessary to discuss the other points made by appellant.
Judgment and order reversed.
De Haven, J., and Garoutte, J., concurred.