Pickens v. State
Mississippi Supreme Court
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Lauderdale County. Hon. Samuel H. Terral, Judge. The facts are stated in the opinion. The court erred in ruling that in order to impeach the witness, Garrett, the impeaching witness, must be able to swear “ what a majority of the people in Garrett’s community, or the people with whom he was most conversant, say of his character for truth and veracity.”
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Appeal from the Circuit Court of Lauderdale County. Hon. Samuel H. Terral, Judge. The facts are stated in the opinion. The court erred in ruling that in order to impeach the witness, Garrett, the impeaching witness, must be able to swear “ what a majority of the people in Garrett’s community, or the people with whom he was most conversant, say of his character for truth and veracity.” The question as propounded and explained by prisoner’s counsel to the witness, E. H. Miller, was correct, and is supported by all the authorities on the subject. Greeuleaf’s Evidence, Vol. I, § 461; Wharton…
1Opinion of the CourtCampbell, C. J.
The testimony of one Garrett was a potent factor in producing the verdict of guilty. The accused sought to impeach Garrett, who was a witness for the State, by evidence that his general reputation for truth and veracity was bad, and in order to do this he produced a witness, Miller, and asked him if he knew the general reputation for truthfulness of Garrett in the community in which he lives? The witness replied, “ That’s a right delicate question to answer,” and then counsel explained the question to mean, “ if he (witness) knew what Garrett’s neighbors generally thought of him as a man of…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Powers v. PresgrovesMississippi Supreme Court · 1859
3Cited by7 opinions
- Tucker v. StateTennessee Supreme Court · 1923
- French v. SaleMississippi Supreme Court · 1885
- Cunningham v. UnderwoodCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · 1902
- Commonwealth v. BrinkSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1912
- Sinclair v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1905
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