Smith v. State
Supreme Court of Alabama
Appeal from Circuit Court of Lowndes. Tried before Hon. James Q. Smith. The appellant was convicted and sentenced to be hung for the murder of his wife, by poisoning her.
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Appeal from Circuit Court of Lowndes. Tried before Hon. James Q. Smith. The appellant was convicted and sentenced to be hung for the murder of his wife, by poisoning her. On the trial, the State introduced a witness, who testified that “on Monday, preceding the day on which the deceased died, she went to the house of the prisoner about 10 o’clock in the morning, and found the deceased in a distressed condition, vomiting a yellow vomit, with blood; and that she had spasms and appeared to be in great suffering; that the deceased complained of great burning in her mouth, throat and stomach.” The…
1Opinion of the CourtStone, J.
We feel constrained to reverse the judgment in this case, because of the imperfect form in which the oath to the jury was administered. When the statute, Revised Code, section 4092, gives the form of an oath that is sufficient in all cases, it is matter of regret that it should be so often overlooked, or departed from. We do not assert that no other foi'm will do. Nor do we assert that the oath must be set out in totidem verbis. It is enough if the record show that the jurors were duly sworn.
When, however, the record assumes or purports to set out the oath that was administered to the jury,…
2Cases cited7 opinions
- Johnson v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1850
- Liles v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1857
- Johnson v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1872
- Gardner v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1872
- Brock v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1855
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3Cited by5 opinions
- Storey v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1882
- Lambright v. StateSupreme Court of Florida · 1894
- Mitchell v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1877
- Davis v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1875
- Whitehead v. StateAlabama Court of Appeals · 1924