Simons v. People

Citations

• 150 Ill. 66
• 36 N.E. 1019
• 1894 Ill. LEXIS 1579

Syllabus

<p>1. Cbihinal law — mubdeb—evidence■—letters written by defendant and found in his possession. On tlie trial of a man for the murder of a young woman by poison, letters found in his possession, addressed to the deceased and shown to be in the handwriting of the defendant, tending to prove the relations existing between them, and thus tending to prove the motive, are admissible in evidence against .the defendant without direct proof that the letters had been delivered to the deceased.</p> <p>2. SaSie — what are dying declarations. Dying declarations are such as are made relating to the facts of an injury of which the person making them afterwards dies, under the fixed belief and moral conviction that immediate death is inevitable, without opportunity for repentance, and without hope of escaping the impending danger.</p> <p>3. About twenty-five minutes before the death of a woman from poison, she stated to her sister that the defendant, to whom she was engaged to be married, had given her a capsule to bring back her monthly courses; that she gave way to this man. Before these declarations, in speaking to her two sisters about the capsule, she stated, ‘T believe it. will kill me.” Before making this statement she threw up her arms and said to one of her sisters, “Don’t leave me any more.” When the declarations were made her mind seemed to be perfectly clear, and one convulsion had followed another for over an hoiir, each with increased severity: Held, that the statements of the deceased were properly admitted in evidence against the defendant as dying declarations.</p> <p>4. Same — -witness not named on indictment. It is not error to allow a witness to testify in a criminal case whose name is not on the indictment, and when no notice has been given that the witness would be called. It is a matter resting in the sound discretion of the court.</p> <p>5. Witness — impeachment—former conviction of perjury. The fact that a defendant in a criminal prosecution may have been