108 Kan. 115 | Kan. | 1920
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction for unlawfully having intoxicating liquor in his possession in violation of section 1 of chapter 215 of the Laws of 1917, the “bone-dry law.”
“As a general rule, testimony tending to show the commission of another offense than the one charged is not admissible; but where such other offense is intimately connected with the one charged, important proof tending to establish the latter cannot be excluded because it may tend to prove the defendant guilty of the other offense.” (Syl. ¶ 6.)
(See, also, The State v. Folwell, 14 Kan. 105; The State v. Adams, 20 Kan. 311; The State v. Labertew, 55 Kan. 674, 41 Pac. 945; The State v. Hansford, 81 Kan. 300, 106 Pac. 738; The State v. Wheeler, 89 Kan. 160, 165, 130 Pac. 656.)
The evidence of the sale of liquor tended to prove that the defendant knowingly had the liquor in his possession, and it was therefore competent.
One witness to the reputation of the defendant, in response to the question, “Is it good or bad?” testified, “I have never talked about his reputation with any one, but the way he acts around there, I would say, yes.” The court said: “Oh, no, no, no. You can’t tell whether a man is going to tell the truth by the way he acts.” There was no error in what the court said. The witness immediately thereafter testified: “Never talked with any one about his reputation.” “Q. You never heard it ■questioned ? A. I never heard it questioned.” That evidence was competent and was admitted.
The evidence of another witness is abstracted as follows:
“Q. Mr. Johnson, do you know what his general reputation is in this community for truth and veracity? You have to answer that, yes or no. A. Why, I don’t know, anything only he was a right good neighbor, and I never heard anything wrong about him in any shape.”
That was stricken out. The witness further testified':
“Q. Mr. Johnson, you have to answer yes or no. Do you know now what his general reputation is in this community for truth and veracity? A. I think his reputation is good.”
The last answer did not respond to the question, but it was •competent and does not appear to have been excluded.
Other complaints are presented, but they are without merit.
The judgment is affirmed.