Haskew v. State

Citations

• 7 Tex. Ct. App. 107

Syllabus

<p>Charge of the Court.—In a trial for unlawfully carrying a pistol, the evidence for the State consisted in the testimony of two witnesses, to the effect that they saw on the defendant “what they took to be the handle of a pistol.” Two witnesses for the defence testified that they saw nothing of the kind, and that, their opportunities being as good as those of any one, they would have been likely to see it if upon the defendant. The court instructed the jury, in effect, that, with equal opportunities, the testimony of an affirmative witness was preferable to that of one who failed to observe the fact in question. Held, that the instruction was on the weight of evidence; and, being excepted to at the time, was material error in view of the state of the proof.</p>