Long v. State

Citations

• 10 Tex. Ct. App. 186

Syllabus

<p>1. Possession of Counterfeiting Material—Indictment.—The offense of having in possession moulds and material used in counterfeiting current coin, with the intent to so use them, as defined by the Penal Code, article 464, is an offense separate and distinct from the offense of counterfeiting as defined by article 469 of the Code, and hence, an indictment for the first offense should not charge the constituent elements of the latter. See the opinion in extenso for an elaboration of the question.</p> <p>2. Evidence.—As a standard of. comparison to prove handwriting, the witness adopted a letter to himself purporting to be from one W., a penitentiary convict, the authorship of which letter was subsequently acknowledged, by W. It was objected that the admission of W., he being a convict and thereby rendered infamous and incompetent as a witness, was incompetent to qualify the letter as a standard of comparison; which objection was overruled. Held, error; and that no fact stated by or derived from a convict, can, so long as the disability remains, be detailed as testimony by another, or used as evidence against a third party for any purpose.</p> <p>3. Same.—To the admission of the testimony of the officials of the penitentiary to the effect that certain convicts in their custody, to whom the accused had access, were convicted for counterfeiting, the defense interposed the objection that the best evidence was the record of their conviction. Held, that, inasmuch as the officials had them in charge by legal process certifying their conviction, and they not being in possession of the record evidence, it was competent for them to state the offense of which the convicts had been convicted, as certified to them. And held further that this evidence was merely of a collateral fact involved in the investigation.</p> <p>4. Same.— A receipt found upon the person of the accused, and purporting to designate the ingredients of a compound suitable for counterfeiting purposes, was prop