Bookser v. State

Citations

• 26 Tex. Ct. App. 593
• 10 S.W. 219
• 1888 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 226

Syllabus

<p>1. Practice—Evidence.—Before an accused can be bound by statements inculpating him in the commission of an offense, the prosecution must show that he was present when the statements were made, or with reasonable certainty that he heard them. The proof shows that the appellant and 8. and Y. were detected in the act of skinning a stolen cow, and that, subsequently, when 8. and Y. were arrested, they declared that defendant, if anybody, was the thief; but the proof fails to show that the defendant was either present or heard the statement. Held, that the statement of 8. and Y. was erroneously admitted in evidence.</p> <p>2. Same—Conspiracy.—Even if the other proof in the ease was sufficient to establish an unconsutninated conspiracy between the defendant and 8. and Y., the statement of the latter as above set forth was not admissible in evidence, because it was in no degree an act in furtherance of the common design.</p> <p>3. Charge op the Court on Circumstantial Evidence was as follows: “And where, as in this case, circumstantial evidence is relied upon to sustain a conviction, each fact or circumstance necessary to establish the conclusion of guilt must be proved beyond a doubt, and the faets so proved must be consistent with each other and with the guilt of the accused, and when considered together must be so conclusive as to satisfy you beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty as charged.” Held, insufficient to fully state the law upon the subject—for which see Willson’s Criminal Forms, 714.</p>