State v. Bessa

Citations

• 115 La. 260
• 38 So. 985
• 1905 La. LEXIS 653

Syllabus

<p>CRIMINAL LAW — OPINION EVIDENCE — GOOD CHARACTER — REMARKS OE DISTRICT ATTORNEY-APPEALS TO RACE PREJUDICE.</p> <p>1. The belief of a witness as to whether the prisoner would have been likely to commit the crime charged against him is not evidence.</p> <p>2. Evidence of good character must be restricted to the trait of character which is involved in the crime charged.</p> <p>3. On the trial of a negro for striking a white man, the jury being all white, a reference on the part of the district attorney to the prosecuting witness as “a creole fellow brother in blood,” or “a fellow brother in blood,” or “a creole fellow in blood,” is in the nature of an appeal to race prejudice, and as such, in view of the peculiar racial conditions in this state, of which the court takes judicial cognizance, is calculated to unduly influence the jury, and as a consequence vitiates the verdict.</p> <p>4. And it is considered that the effect of such an appeal cannot be counteracted by the instructions of the judge to the jury to disregard same, or by the apology of the district attorney for the unfortunate slip and his request that the same be disregarded.</p> <p>(Syllabus by the Court.)</p>