Smith v. State
Supreme Court of Alabama
Appeal from the City Court of Gadsden. Tried before the Hon. John H. Disque. The appellant was indicted, tried and convicted for an assault witli intent to rape, and was sentenced to tbe penitentiary -for twenty years. On the trial of the case the woman alleged in the indictment to have been assaulted testified to the circumstances of the assault committed upon her and to¡ facts tending to show that the assault was made*’with the intent to forcibly ravish her.
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Appeal from the City Court of Gadsden. Tried before the Hon. John H. Disque. The appellant was indicted, tried and convicted for an assault witli intent to rape, and was sentenced to tbe penitentiary -for twenty years. On the trial of the case the woman alleged in the indictment to have been assaulted testified to the circumstances of the assault committed upon her and to¡ facts tending to show that the assault was made*’with the intent to forcibly ravish her. She identified the defendant as the person who committed such assault. She testified, among other things, that she worked at a cotton…
1Opinion of the CourtTyson, J.
The rule of the common law was that persons convicted of treason, felony and the crimen falsi' were rendered infamous, and “were disqualified as witnesses in civil and criminal cases. In determining whether a crime was infamous, the test seems to be “whether the crime shows such depravity in the perpetration or -such a disposition to pervert public justice in the courts, as creates a violent presumption against his truthfulness under oath.” It was not the severity of punishment, but the nature of the offense, which created legal infamy and disqualification of a witness.. *92Sylvester v. State,…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Sylvester v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1881
- Taylor v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1878
- Dudley v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1898
3Cited by21 opinions
- Pippin v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1916
- Williams v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1906
- Viberg v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1902
- Moore v. StateAlabama Court of Appeals · 1915
- Abrams v. StateAlabama Court of Appeals · 1920
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