McMunn v. State
Supreme Court of Alabama
Indictment for Larceny. Appeal from the Circuit Court of Madison. The appellant was indicted, tried and convicted of larceny from the person of one Charlie Vail.
Read the full summary
Indictment for Larceny. Appeal from the Circuit Court of Madison. The appellant was indicted, tried and convicted of larceny from the person of one Charlie Vail. The principal evidence tending to show that the defendant was guilty of the offense charged was a statement by Charlie Vail and his wife, Mrs. Annie Vail, which was testified to before, and taken down by, the.committing magistrate on the preliminary investigation of the defendant for the crime for which he was indicted. To the introduction of each of these written statements, the defendant objected, on the ground that no proper…
1Opinion of the CourtMoOLELLAN, J.
The evidence adduced on the inquiry whether Vail and his wife were permently or indefinitely absent from the State at the time of the trial was insufficient to establish a predicate for the admission of their testimony given before and taken down by the committing magistrate. For the State it was substantially to this effect: These witnesses said at the time of their preliminary trial that “when at home, they lived in Ohio.” They at that time had no home in Alabama, but were camping out in the suburbs of Huntsville. A subpoena for them was sent to Limestone county and returned “not found.” A…
2Cited by4 opinions
- Watkins v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1901
- State v. GallinaSupreme Court of Missouri · 1944
- Wigginton v. StateAlabama Court of Appeals · 1920
- Brewer v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1923