Brown v. State

Prosecution for malicious trespass. Conviction ; punishment, fine and imprisonment.

The case was tried by a jury of eleven.

The sole judge who tried the cause was sworn as a witness in it, on behalf of the State.

Greenleaf says, it is settled that the sole judge trying a cause can not be sworn as a witness in it, for the reason that while he is a witness, there is no judge. 1 Greenl. Ev., § 364, p. 508. It is not necessary that we should decide the point, in this case, and we do not. It must be reversed upon another ground, and will not be tried again before the judge who was the witness.

A jury…