20 Iowa 262 | Iowa | 1866
Upon the trial of the cause before a jury, in the District Court, the same witness was introduced in behalf of the
In The State v. Bowers, 17 Iowa, 46, it was held by a majority of the court present, and deciding that case (Wright, Ch. J., dissenting; Dillon, J., being absent), that where the new matter (not embraced or referred to in the minutes) offered to be proved by the minutes, was even material and necessary to the conviction of the accused, such testimony might properly be elicited. In the case of The State v. Ostrander, 18 Iowa, 435, the new matter testified to was not material to the conviction, but was of corroborating circumstances merely. ■ Dillon, J., delivered the opinion, and expressed his concurrence in the opinion of the majority, in The Stale v. Bowers, supra, and the then chief justice (Wright), concurred in the ruling in this last case. Following these decisions,. we all unite in the conclusion (Wright, J., for the.reason stated in The State v. Ostrander), that the court erred in excluding the testimony offered in this case, and the ruling thereon is therefore
Reversed.