Starks v. People
New York Supreme Court
Error to the general sessions of Oswego county. The plaintiff in error was indicted in the sessions, in June, 1845, for arson in burning a bam of Ebenezer Perkins at Hannibal, Oswego county,, on the first day of April, 1845. The defendant pleaded not guilty, and the trial took place in December, 1845. E. Perkins was sworn as a witness for the prosecution; and on cross-examination by the prisoner’s counsel he was asked whether he did hot, during the then last winter or…
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Error to the general sessions of Oswego county. The plaintiff in error was indicted in the sessions, in June, 1845, for arson in burning a bam of Ebenezer Perkins at Hannibal, Oswego county,, on the first day of April, 1845. The defendant pleaded not guilty, and the trial took place in December, 1845. E. Perkins was sworn as a witness for the prosecution; and on cross-examination by the prisoner’s counsel he was asked whether he did hot, during the then last winter or spring, when speaking to one James Dunton, and referring to a certain black ash swamp, say, “there would be a good place to…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court, Beardsley, O. J.
How much, if any thing, the evidence of the witness, Dun ton, would have amounted to, is not' for us to say, but it was clearly competent and should not have been rejected by the court. It tended more or less to show ill will or malice on the part of the.witness towards the prisoner on trial, and was therefore pertinent and material. It is always competent to show that a witness is hostile to the party against whom he is called; that he has threatened revenge, or that a quarrel exists between them. A jury would scrutinize, more closelyzand doubtingly, the…
2Cited by30 opinions
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- Schultz v. . Third Avenue Railroad CompanyNew York Court of Appeals · 1882
- Ford v. StateIndiana Supreme Court · 1887
- State v. MooreSupreme Court of Iowa · 1868
- Lamb v. . LambNew York Court of Appeals · 1895
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