Myers v. State

Citations

• 8 Tex. Ct. App. 321

Syllabus

<p>L Change op Venue. —Applications for change of venue on account of local prejudice are confided by the law to the discretion of the trial judge, and his action thereon will not be revised on appeal, unless shown to have been an abuse of his discretion to the prejudice of the appellant.</p> <p>2. Recusant Witness — Practice. — A prisoner being a witness for the State in a trial for murder, and refusing on cross-examination to answer whether he had not at a former trial testified contrary to his present testimony, the defence asked that he be put in solitary confinement on bread and water until he should answer; which the court refused to order. The defence, it appears, were able to prove the contrary testimony previously given by the witness. Held, questionable whether the action requested was authorized by law. If it was, the necessity for it in the present case, involving an indefinite delay of the trial, is not apparent, and its refusal was not error.</p> <p>3. Accomplice. — An indicted accomplice, previous to his acquittal, is not a competent witness for the defence.</p> <p>4. Evidence. — Statements made by a confederate in the absence of the defendant could only become competent evidence for the State by means of proof tending to show a common design between them to commit the offence.</p> <p>6. Charge op the Court—Penalty for Murder in the First Degree. — While the jury in a murder case were considering of their verdict, the Revised Penal Code took effect and changed the penalty for murder in the first degree from death alone to death or the penitentiary for life. At the instance of the prosecution the court gave to the jury an additional charge, instructing them on this change of the law, and directing them to find which penalty the defendant should suffer in case they found him guilty of murder in the first degree. Reid, error. The law in force when the trial commenced continued to be the law of the case until the trial was concluded. And the court was not