State v. Burns

Citations

• 19 Wash. 52
• 52 P. 316
• 1898 Wash. LEXIS 316

Syllabus

<p>LARCENY — SUFFICIENCY OF INFORMATION — DESCRIPTION OF MONEY-CONTINUANCE — EVIDENCE — COMMENT BY JUDGES ON TESTIMONY-INSTRUCTIONS — SEPARATION OF JURY.</p> <p>In an information charging the larceny of money a description of the property stolen as being two one hundred dollar bills and one fifty dollar bill, lawful money of the United States, is sufficient under Code Proc., >§ 1253 (Bal. Code, § 6859), which provides that in such cases it is sufficient to allege the larceny to be of money or bank notes, without specifying the coin, number, denomination or kind thereof.</p> <p>The fact that an information charging the larceny of money, after naming the number and denomination of the bills,' alleges further “a more exact description being not now known,” while a witness for the state gives an exact description of the bills in his testimony, does not constitute a fatal variance, when there is no-showing of want of diligence on the part of the prosecuting attorney to ascertain and charge the exact description.</p> <p>The refusal of a continuance in a criminal cause does not show an abuse of discretion, when the cause has been finally set for trial -more than five weeks after defendant’s arrest, one continuance having been granted him in the meantime.</p> <p>A remark by the court concerning a criminal action, that “it is mostly a case of positive testimony,” is not objectionable on the ground of being an expression of the court’s opinion on the weight of the testimony.</p> <p>In a prosecution for the larceny of money, it is competent to put in evidence the money taken from defendant’s person when arrested, although not identified as a part of the stolen money, merely as a circumstance showing he had money when arrested, which the jury might properly consider.</p> <p>Error of the court in stating to the jury that it was not permissible to introduce evidence -affecting the character of the defendant, that the court would not permit it, for instance, to be shown that he ha