State v. Haab

Citations

• 105 La. 230

Syllabus

<p>Syllabus.'</p> <p>1. The extent to which a witness may be cross-examined is submitted to the discretion of the district judge, and this discretion will, not be interfered with unless it be abused. If the real object of a series of cross-questions as to the particulars of the past life of a witness, in a ease of homicide, be not to affect his credibility, but incidentally to attack the character of the deceased without the prerequired foundations then existing for so doing, or to simply prejudice the jury against the witness, the court is authorized to check such examination. Defendant is not entitled to cross-examine a witness upon collateral and irrelevant matters, in order through contradiction of the testimony which might be elicited therein, to impeach his credibility.</p> <p>2. Defendant, charged with murder, is not entitled to enquire into the character of the deceased as being a man who was dangerous and violent, in the ah sence of evidence of an overt act on the latter’s part which would excuse or mitigate defendant’s act.</p> <p>3. The court is authorized in the exercise of proper legal discretion to permit one of defendant’s witnesses, who had been cross-examined by the State and then re-examined for the defense, to be re-cross-examined by the State.</p> <p>4. Where the court refuses to sign a bill of exception presented to him, on the ground that no such bill was reserved, and a bill was reserved to such refusal, the statement of the court in the second bill that no bill was originally reserved will be taken as true.</p> <p>5. The court is directly concerned in understanding the testimony given by the witnesses in a ease, in order to guide its own actions and rulings, and therefore it has the right to question itself, the witnesses to have the scope of their testimony made clear, but the conduct of criminal cases should be left as much as possible in the hands of the State’s officers specially entrusted with conducting them. Although it would have been