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142 Ark. 402

Johnston v. State

Supreme Court of Arkansas

Decided March 1, 1920

Supreme Court of Arkansas · decided 1920-03-01

B. Priddy, Judge; 1. The court abused its discretion in refusing the continuance and forcing defendant to trial. 107 Atl. 554; Fotmtain v. State, October Law Notes, pp. 123 and 107. 2. The court erred in refusing instruction No. 4 and the verdict is against the evidence. He was rushed into trial without a chance to procure his testimony. 1. The continuance was properly refused. The motions and overruling were not brought into the record by bill of exceptions. 2.

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently May 1937

4 state decisions

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

affirmed · Decided 1920-03-01

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Wood, J.

¶1The appellant appeals from a judgment convicting him of the crime of selling liquor.

¶2Counsel was appointed by the court to defend appellant.

¶3At the trial three witnesses testified that they had bought whiskey from appellant within three years prior to the finding of the indictment. Appellant introduced testimony tending to impeach the character of two of these witnesses for truth and morality.

¶4The appellant testified that he had not sold any liquor as charged in the indictment and testified to facts specifically rebutting the testimony of the witnesses for the State.

¶5The court gave, among others, the following instruction, No. 4: “It devolves upon the State in a case of this kind to prove every material allegation in the indictment. And the material allegations in the indictment briefly stated are, ‘that the defendant sold liquor, some kind of liquor, as mentioned in this indictment or any kind of intoxicating liquor; that that occurred in Pope County, Arkansas, within three years next before the finding of this indictment.’ ”

¶6One of the grounds of the motion for new trial is that the court erred in overruling appellant’s motion for continuance.

¶7The bill of exceptions does not show that any exceptions were saved to the overruling of appellant’s motion for continuance. The motions themselves are not brought into the record by bill of exceptions and therefore we cannot consider this ground of appellant’s motion for new trial. Adkisson v. State, ante p. 34, and cases cited.

¶8While the motions for continuance are set out in the motion for new trial, and the motion for new trial is brought into the bill of exceptions, this does not meet the requirements that the motion for continuance and ob-. jections and exceptions to the ruling of the court thereto must be made to appear in the bill of exceptions.

¶9The court did not err in giving instruction No. 4. When all of the language of the instruction is considered together, a fair interpretation of it is that the court meant to tell the jury that it devolved upon the State to prove that the defendant had sold some kind of intoxicating liquor as charged in the indictment. When the language of the instruction is considered in connection with the language of the indictment its meaning is perfectly plain. The instruction, when thus considered, was not calculated to mislead the jury.

¶10The indictment charged the appellant with “feloniously selling and giving away ardent, vinous, malt, spirituous and fermented liquors and alcoholic spirits and certain compounds and preparations thereof, commonly called tonics, hitters and medicated liquors, against the peace and dignity of the State of Arkansas.”

¶11It was a felony under the law of Arkansas to sell such liquor or any kind of intoxicating liquor mentioned in the indictment. Act 30, p. 98, of the Acts of 1915.

¶12The evidence was sufficient to sustain the verdict.

¶13There is no error, and the judgment must be affirmed.

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