State v. Seablom

Citations

• 103 Wash. 53
• 173 P. 721
• 1918 Wash. LEXIS 1001

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law — Evidence—Confessions—Duress. An accused’s voluntary confession, deliberately signed, is not tainted with duress or coercion from the fact that when arrested he was taken before the mayor, who was a justice of the peace and attorney, and the deputy sheriff, the prosecuting attorney and others.</p> <p>Intoxicating Liquors — Offenses — Unlawful Possession — Evidence — Sufficiency. A conviction of the unlawful possession of whiskey is sustained, though accused testified it was found to be only colored water, where he obtained it from a drug store at the agreed price for whiskey, approximately the same amount of whiskey disappeared from the store, and the accused signed a confession that he got the whiskey.</p> <p>Criminal Law — Trial—Remarks by Court. In a prosecution for the illegal possession of whiskey, it is not prejudicial error for the judge to say that the court never ordered a witness not to tell the truth, when the prosecutor asked whether another implicated with the accused “came up on the stand, under the order of the court, and refused to tell the truth.”</p> <p>Same. Upon sustaining objection to improper evidence it is not error for the court to indicate or mark the boundary between testimony that is competent and that which is not.</p> <p>Same — Appeal—Harmless Error. In a prosecution for illegal possession of whiskey, it is harmless to instruct to convict if the liquors were by the accused purchased, “stole” or secured in any way, where it was admitted that what he had was stolen.</p> <p>Same — Trial—Instructions. In a prosecution for illegal possession .of whiskey, an instruction to consider statements of a witness not made on the witness stand only for the purpose of affecting his credibility is not error as calling attention to such witness, who had been tried and convicted for the same offense.</p>