People v. Lynch

Citations

• 122 Cal. 501
• 55 P. 248
• 1898 Cal. LEXIS 619

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law—Robbery—Evidence—Corroboration of Accomplice.—• The conviction of a defendant charged with robbery is not rendered insufficient by the testimony of an accomplice directly connecting the defendant with the commission of the crime, where it appears that there is evidence, in addition to that of the accomplice which, without its aid, tends to connect the defendant with the crime charged.</p> <p>Id.—Declarations of Defendant as to Distinct Offenses.—Evidence of declarations of the defendant as to the intention of himself and another person to commit other and distinct offenses of robbery, is inadmissible.</p> <p>Id.—Evidence of Collateral Facts Inadmissible.—Drider the rule that testimony must be confined to the issues, evidence of collateral facts, which are incapable of affording any reasonable presumption or inference as to the principal fact or matter in dispute, is inadmissible.</p> <p>Id.—Cross-examination—Bias of Witness—Collateral Imprisonment of Defendant.—A witness for the defendant, who had merely testified in chief that he knew the defendant, and that defendant had money the day before the alleged robbery, could not properly be asked on cross-examination if he had not once been with the defendant in the county jail in another county. Such evidence is not sufficient to justify an inference of bias on the part of the witness, and is inadmissible evidence of a collateral imprisonment of 'the defendant, erroneously adapted to furnish an inference pointing to the probability of his being guilty of the offense charged.</p> <p>Id.—Instruction as to Testimony of Accomplice.—An instruction as to the testimony of an accomplice should clearly point out the rule that the evidence of the accomplice is insufficient of itself to justify a conviction, and also clearly point out what degree of proof is sufficient as corroborative of that of the accomplice.</p>