Ballew v. State

Citations

• 36 Tex. 98

Syllabus

<p>1. Prosecutions depending wholly upon circumstantial evidence often demand a greater latitude for the presentation of such evidence than is allowable when direct and positive testimony is also relied upon.</p> <p>2. A conviction for murder in the first degree will not necessarily be set aside on account of errors committed by the court trying the case. The error must be material and to the prejudice of the defendant.</p> <p>3. It was error to exclude from the jury, on the trial of a murder case, the verdict of the coroner’s inquest, when the same was not impeached. The verdict should have been admitted, not as proof positive of the matters it contained, but as the opinion of the jury who held inquest over the body 'of the deceased; but this court will not reverse a case on account of such error, when it is evident that the admission of the verdict of the coroner’s inquest could not have affected the result of the case.</p>