Smith v. Commonwealth
Court of Appeals of Kentucky
Case 100 — Indictment foe Incest ARPEAD FROM LETCHER CIRCUIT COUBT. Defendants Convicted of Incest and Appeal. In this case Lane Smith and Fanny Smith, brother and sister, have been indicted and convicted of incest. Two witnesses testify as to .their guilt, but each witness tells of a separate act. The first witness is impeached, and the second one contradicted.
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Case 100 — Indictment foe Incest ARPEAD FROM LETCHER CIRCUIT COUBT. Defendants Convicted of Incest and Appeal. In this case Lane Smith and Fanny Smith, brother and sister, have been indicted and convicted of incest. Two witnesses testify as to .their guilt, but each witness tells of a separate act. The first witness is impeached, and the second one contradicted. The evidence of each is so unreasonable as to make it incredible. 1. We maintain that the .evidence of the Commonwealth was insufficient to authorize the case going to the jury, and if this position is untenable then we say the court…
1Opinion of the Court
*687Opinion op the court by
JUDGE HOBSON
Reversing.
Appellants, Lane Smith and Fanny Smith, were indicted in the Letcher Circuit Court for the crime of incest. The jury to whom the case was submitted returned a verdict finding them guilty, and fixing their punishment at confinement in the penitentiary for two years. Kentucky Statutes, section 1219. The only witnesses on whose testimony the conviction rests are Solomon Holcomb and Ferriby Frazier. Holcomb testified that in the month of September, 1897, he was working in a clearing for John Smith, the father of appellants, near his house, and at noon…
2Cases cited3 opinions
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- Williams v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1884
3Cited by27 opinions
- Morris v. StateCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma · 1913
- Woodruff v. StateNebraska Supreme Court · 1904
- Jamison v. StateTennessee Supreme Court · 1906
- McCreary v. CommonwealthCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1915
- Gravitt v. CommonwealthCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1919
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