Reynolds v. People
New York Supreme Court
Certiorari to the Hew York General Sessions. John Reynolds was convicted at the Hew York General Sessions of manslaughter in the third degree, in slaying Patrick Mathews. One of the justices of the Supreme Court certified, under the statute, that there was sufficient cause for staying proceedings, and the present certiorari was procured by the district attorney for the purpose of reviewing the conviction.
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Certiorari to the Hew York General Sessions. John Reynolds was convicted at the Hew York General Sessions of manslaughter in the third degree, in slaying Patrick Mathews. One of the justices of the Supreme Court certified, under the statute, that there was sufficient cause for staying proceedings, and the present certiorari was procured by the district attorney for the purpose of reviewing the conviction. At the trial, the prisoner’s counsel introduced a witness and propounded the following question: Q. Do you know what the character of Patrick Mathews was in this community for the ten years…
1Opinion of the CourtSutherland, P. J.
The only material question in this case is as to the admissibility of the evidence offered by the prisoner to show that the character of Mathews, the deceased, in the *417community, was that he was a dangerous, violent, and quarrelsome man. The recorder excluded this evidence. In my opinion the evidence was properly excluded.
I cannot find any evidence in the case tending to show that the prisoner and Mathews were acquaintances, or that they had ever seen each other before the affray. There was no proof of any previous relation between them, from which it might be presumed that the prisoner knew…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Indiana Central Railway Co. v. StateIndiana Supreme Court · 1852
3Cited by1 opinion
- Abernethy v. CommonwealthSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1882