State v. Cutshall

HIGGINS, Justice.

The Court is now reviewing a case in which the evidence has been heard by three juries. The first jury was discharged by the trial judge before verdict, upon a finding that the defendant had tampered with one of the jurors. At the next term a jury summoned from Buncombe County heard the evidence, returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty, and recommended his punishment be imprisonment for life. This Court granted a new trial because of error in permitting the State to impeach a defendant’s witness by showing he had made contradictory statements on a collateral matter.…