People v. Yeaton

Citations

• 75 Cal. 415
• 17 P. 544
• 1888 Cal. LEXIS 560

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law — Evidence—Confession—Impeachment of Witness— Contradictory Statements.—The defendant in a criminal prosecution, who is a witness in her own behalf, cannot be compelled, on cross-examination, to testify to statements made by her out of court, which amount to a confession of the crime, unless it be first shown that the confession was voluntary. And this is so, although the evidence be offered by the prosecution, not as a confession, but merely as contradictory statements, for the purpose of impeaching the witness.</p> <p>Id.—Evidence of Part of Same Transaction.—One of the confessions introduced was a letter written by the defendant when in jail, to the prosecuting witness. The defendant testified that the letter was written at the request and on the advice of her mother, who visited her at the jail with one Oxendine, and told her that she had consulted an attorney, who advised the writing of the letter. In this connection, the defendant offered to prove by her own testimony, and by the testimony of her mother and of Oxendine, that at that conference she told them she was entirely innocent. The court excluded the evidence. Held, that the ruling was error, as the conference and the writing of the letter should be considered as one transaction.</p>