Pinkney v. State

Citations

• 12 Tex. Ct. App. 352

Syllabus

<p>1. Evidence — Practice.— The same rules which, in criminal actions, govern the admissibility in evidence of depositions are made by statute applicable to the written testimony of a witness at an examining trial. Those rules require that oath be made to the existence of some one or more of the facts contained in article 772 of the •Code of Criminal Procedure: Such oath need not be made in the form of an affidavit, nor is a formal independent oath necessary, but the fact may be proved by the testimony of witnesses, as any other fact in the case.</p> <p>U. Same.—The statement of the witness B. that he “ did not know where D. was ” was not sufficient to qualify the written testimony of D. as competent. Nor was it sufficient that the court explained “ that attachments for the party had been issued to several counties, and returned not found,” and that he “ appeared to be a railroad hand with no permanent place of abode, and the State had no reasonable expectation of ever being able to procure his attendance.</p>