Owens v. State ex rel. Jennett

Citations

• 64 Tex. 500

Syllabus

<p>1. Election — Office — Evidence.— In a contest involving the right to an office, when the official returns are attacked as not showing the true result of an election, held:</p> <p>(1) The ballots axe prima faeie evidence of the result of the election.</p> <p>(2) In a proper case the ballot-boxes may be opened and the tickets counted to rebut the presumption in favor of the returns; but in case of disagreement between the returns and the ballots, the latter must prevail, as the best .evidence of the will of voters.</p> <p>(3) In order to allow the ballots to prevail as against the returns, it must appear that they have been preserved by the proper officers as required by law, and have not been exposed to the reach of unauthorized persons, so as to afford reasonable probability of having been changed or tampered with. Following Hudson v. Solomon, 19 Kans., 177; People v. Livingston, 79 N. Y., 279, and State v. Owens, 63 Tex., 261.</p> <p>2. Same.— Hence, on the trial of the right to an office, it is proper for the jury to base their estimate of the result of an election on the official returns, when satisfied by evidence that the ballot-boxes have been tampered with, after the official count, and by the ballots, when there is no satisfactory evidence of such interference with the ballot-box.</p> <p>3. Juey trial. — When, during the progress of a trial, bystanders greet with applause whatever is favorable to some one of the litigants, and this conduct continues from time to time unchecked until the trial is concluded, and the verdict is in favor of the party for whom such sympathy was shown, the judgment rendered on such a verdict will be reversed, if from the whole case it appeal's that the verdict may have been influenced by such demonstrations. Such conduct by bystanders is a contempt of court of the most serious character, tending, as it does, to pervert the course of justice, and should be suppressed, if need be, by the strong arm of the law; if that be inadequ