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130 Mo. 438

State v. Thompson

Supreme Court of Missouri

Decided November 19, 1895

Supreme Court of Missouri · decided 1895-11-19

— Hon. James D. Fox, Judge. The defendants have filed no bill of exceptions; although the record recites that one has been filed, yet there is none in the record bearing the signature of the circuit judge, as is required.

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““The evidence has not been preserved in the bill of exceptions, the stenographer having died about a month after the trial without having transcribed his notes, owing to a long illness beginning soon after circuit court adjourned, and continuing down to the time of his death, and no one else can translate the stenographer’s notes of the evidence. “Upon these grounds, and upon the further ground that no other notes of the evidence were taken, either by defendant’s or other counsel in the cause, we are moved, on behalf of defendant, to reverse the judgment and remand the cause. “This we can not do. Notwithstanding the sickness of the stenographer, there was nothing to prevent defendant’s counsel to' have remembered and written down the substance, at least, of the testimony and have the same inserted in the bill of exceptions, because it is evident the evidence could not have been lengthy, and due diligence required of them when discovering the stenographer was dangerously ill, to have preserved the evidence in some way. This might have been done if their memory failed,' by calling on the witnesses who had testified at the trial. [Whitmore v. Coates, 14 Mo. 9 .] “This case does not resemble, in any particular, that of State v. McCarver, 113 Mo. 602 . “As no evidence has been preserved, and there is no error in the record proper, judgment is affirmed.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including 237 Mo. App. 553 - Longmire v. Diagraph-Bradley Stencil MacHine Corp.

Relies on State v. McCarver · Whitmore v. Coats

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Appiemed · Decided 1895-11-19

How this case has been cited

Cited by 8 later decisions — most recently March 1972

3 federal appellate · 5 state decisions

30189519001910192019301940195019601970decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Sherwood, J.

¶1Defendant was convicted of assault with intent to maim one Richardson, and, sentenced to pay a fine of $100 and to be confined for six months in jail, appeals to this court.

¶2The evidence has not been preserved in the bill of exceptions, the stenographer having died about a month after the trial without having transcribed his notes, owing to a long illness beginning soon after circuit court adjourned, and continuing down to the time of his death, and no one else can translate the stenographer’s notes of the evidence.

¶3Upon these grounds, and upon the further ground that no other notes of the evidence were taken, either by defendant’s or other counsel in the cause, we are moved, on behalf of defendant, to reverse the judgment and remand the cause.

¶4This we can not do. Notwithstanding the sickness of the stenographer, there was nothing to prevent defendant’s counsel to have remembered and written down the substance, at least, of the testimony and have the same inserted in the bill of exceptions, because it is evident the evidence could not have been lengthy, and due diligence required of them when discovering the stenographer was dangerously ill, to have preserved the evidence in some way. This might have been done if their memory failed, by calling on the witnesses who had testified at the trial. Whitmore v. Coates, 14 Mo. 9.

¶5This case does not resemble, in any particular, that of State v. McCarver, 113 Mo. 602.

¶6As no evidence has been preserved, and there is no error in the record proper, judgment is affirmed.

All concur.
/130/mo/438 · .json · Public domain