Dickey v. State

Citations

• 86 Miss. 525

Syllabus

<p>1. CRIMINAL Daw. Rape. Evidence.</p> <p>In a prosecution for rape it is competent for the state to show:</p> <p>(a) That prosecutrix complained soon after the outrage, but not the particulars of her complaint;</p> <p>(b) That prosecutrix was a child slightly over ten years of age;</p> <p>(e) That defendant, after being arrested for rape, addressed a letter to the physician who had examined prosecutrix, and handed it to a deputy sheriff to be mailed, containing a statement of facts, with an offer to pay the physician if he would swear to the facts as stated in the letter, although the letter never reached the physician, it being a manifest attempt to fabricate evidence; and</p> <p>(d) That defendant disappeared from his home immediately after the offense was committed, and search was instituted for him, as tending to show flight.</p> <p>2. Same. Particula/rs of complaint. PCa/rmless error.</p> <p>Where, in a prosecution for rape, there was no question of identity or of the commission of the act, but the defense claimed that the intercourse was accomplished with prosecutrix’s consent, error in the admission of prosecutrix’s complaint to her mother, immediately on her return home after the outrage, in which she stated, “Mr. Dicfcey [defendant] hurt me,’’ was harmless.</p> <p>3. Same. Verdict on conflicting evidence.</p> <p>Where, in a prosecution for rape, there was evidence from which the jury were warranted in finding defendant guilty, a conviction will not he reversed on the ground that the jury should have found defendant not guilty, in view of all' the competent evidence in the case.</p> <p>4. Same. Misconduct of jwy.</p> <p>The facts that a bailiff was present in the jury room for a few minutes, during which nothing was said concerning the case submitted to the jury; that one of the jurors separated from his fellows for a few minutes, to go to a water cooler, in the presence of the court; and that the jury was allowed to occupy the courtroom as a sleeping apar