State v. . Garrett
Supreme Court of North Carolina
This was an indictment for murder, tried at Spring Term, 1853, of Northampton Superior Court, before Bailey, Judge. , On the trial, a witness for the prisoner, was asked upon his cross-examination by the Attorney General, whether he had not been indicted, convicted and whipped, in the County Court of Warren, for stealing. The witness was informed by his Honor, that he was not bound to answer the question unless he chose to do so, and he declined to answer.
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This was an indictment for murder, tried at Spring Term, 1853, of Northampton Superior Court, before Bailey, Judge. , On the trial, a witness for the prisoner, was asked upon his cross-examination by the Attorney General, whether he had not been indicted, convicted and whipped, in the County Court of Warren, for stealing. The witness was informed by his Honor, that he was not bound to answer the question unless he chose to do so, and he declined to answer. The Attorney General, in his concluding argument to the jury, insisted, although the prisoner’s counsel objected to his right to do so,…
1Opinion of the CourtBattle, J.
The bill of exceptions presents fairly the point, whether the Attorney General, after having asked the defendant’s witness a question tending to his disparagement or disgrace, and which he on that account refused to answer, had the right, in his argument to the jury, to infer from his silence that the witness was unworthy of credit. There is no subject connected with the examination of witnesses on a nisi prius trial, whether civil or criminal, upon which there seems to have been more diversity of opinion and practice in the English Courts, than upon the one now under consideration. Judges of…
2Cited by5 opinions
- State v. WilliamsSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1971
- State v. . MaslinSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1928
- State v. . GriffinSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1931
- Fedoronko v. American Defender Life InsuranceCourt of Appeals of North Carolina · 1984
- State v. WilliamsSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1971