State of Washington v. Wingard

Citations

• 92 Wash. 219
• 158 P. 725
• 1916 Wash. LEXIS 1122

Syllabus

<p>Obstructing Justice — Information — Sufficiency. An information charging accused with tampering with witnesses in a certain action before a designated justice court, is sufficient without alleging that such court was “authorized to subpoena witnesses,” within Rem. & Bal. Code, § 2363, defining the offense; in view of Id., § 52, providing that every justice court has power to compel the attendance of witnesses.</p> <p>Indictment and Information — Duplicity. An information charging the accused with tampering with witnesses in a certain action is not duplicitous in that it charges two means employed — -“by persuasion and offer of money”- — as they were not inconsistent means or repugnant to each other.</p> <p>Same — Sufficiency — Apparent Mistake. The omission of the charging verb “did” in an information is not fatal, where it is plain from the wording that it was omitted by mistake, and its omission would be discovered only by a very careful perusal of the information.</p> <p>Criminal Law — Evidence — Conclusions. An inquiry as to whether accused was just “stalling” and “kidding” is properly excluded as calling for the conclusion of a witness.</p> <p>Same — Appeal—-Harmless Error. Error in the exclusion of a question is harmless where it was thereafter answered in substance.</p> <p>Evidence — Judicial Notice. The courts will take judicial notice that there was a justice of the peace in a precinct.</p> <p>Obstructing Justice — Existence of Court and Action- — Evidence —Sufficiency. In a prosecution for tampering with witnesses in an action before a justice of the peace, a certified copy of the record from the justice court is sufficient evidence as to the existence of the court, the jurisdiction, and the action.</p> <p>Same — Evidence—Sufficiency. A conviction of an attempt to obstruct justice by tampering with witnesses is sustained by evidence that accused attempted to persuade them not to appear, stating they would be well paid for it and that the subpoenas did n