Weatherford v. State

[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.]

The appellant was convicted for rape and sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment. Ten separate grounds for reversal of the conviction are asserted on appeal.

I

It was not error for the trial judge to excuse the police officer in charge of the investigation from a general order excluding witnesses from the courtroom. It is within the discretion of the trial judge to excuse some witnesses and not others from the operation of "the rule" of exclusion. That discretion…