Compton v. State

Citations

• 13 Tex. Ct. App. 271
• 1882 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 219

Syllabus

<p>1. Incest—Indictment.—See the opinion in extenso, for an indictment held sufficient to charge the offense of incest.</p> <p>2. Same—Statute Construed—Evidence—Cases Overruled.—Article 735 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which qualifies the husband or wife as a witness against the other in a criminal prosecution for an offense by one against the other, must be construed to limit that qualification to offenses committed by the one against the person of the other. Hence, it follows that the wife is not a competent witness against the husband in a prosecution against him for incest with her daughter and the stepdaughter of the accused. And it seems that notwithstanding the decisions in Morrill v. The State, 5 Texas Ct. App., 447, and Roland v. The State, 9 Texas Ct. App., 277, the weight of authority is against the competency of husband or wife as a witness against the other in a prosecution for adultery; and those cases are therefore overruled. See the opinion in extenso on the subject.</p>