Alexander v. State

Citations

• 21 Tex. Ct. App. 406
• 17 S.W. 139
• 1886 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 160

Syllabus

<p>1. Former Jeopardy—Autrefois Acquit—Case Stated.—Separate indictments charged the accused with the theft of two horses, one the property of J. S., and one the property of B. H. S. On his trial for the theft of the J. S. horse he was acquitted. On this trial for the theft of the B. H. S. horse, the accused, by special plea of former jeopardy and acquittal, set up that the taking of the two horses was but one and the same transaction, and that his acquittal of the theft of the J. S. horse was an acquittal of the theft of the B. H. S. horse, and a bar to a prosecution in this case. His plea set up that his proof showed on his first trial, and would sboyr on this trial, that the “ said horses, belonging to the said J. S. and B. H. S. respectively, were taken at the same time and from the same neighborhood, though they were about a mile apart,” etc. The State filed special exceptions to the plea, to the effect that the two indictments were for separate offenses, the owners of the alleged stolen property being different persons; that the plea showed upon its face that the horses were taken at different times and from different places, and could not, therefore, be the same or a single transaction; and that said plea failed to charge, in terms, the identity of defendant as the party prosecuted in the two eases. Held, that in sustaining the exceptions and striking out the defendant’s plea the trial court did not err.</p> <p>2. Same—Theft.—When the evidence shows that the theft of animals of two different owners was perpetrated in a single transaction, the conviction of the accused of the theft of the animal of one of the alleged owners will, upon the doctrine of autrefois convict, and the doctrine of carving, operate to bar a prosecution for the theft of the animal of the other. But, being charged in an indictment of the theft of cattle of one of the owners, and tried and acquitted upon that indictment, the plea of autrefois acquit is not available in a prosecution upon a