Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

180 Mich. 641

People v. Cona

Michigan Supreme Court

Decided June 1, 1914

Michigan Supreme Court · decided 1914-06-01

<p>1. Constitutional Law — Searches and Seizures — Evidence — Witnesses — Homicide—Criminal Law.</p> <p>Since it is the right and duty of the police to search any person who is taken into custody and his room or the place in which he may have been arrested, no constitutional right of a respondent was violated in searching his room and taking possession of two revolvers which were found there; nor was it erroneous, in a murder case, to require him to answer a question whether the weapons belonged to him.</p> <p>2. Witnesses — Cross-Examination—Murder.</p> <p>A respondent that took the witness stand in his own behalf, in a prosecution for the killing of a police officer, might be asked whether he had had trouble with the officers of the city at other times, as a preliminary to an inquiry into the matter of previous convictions.</p> <p>3. Criminal Law — Trial—Homicide—Argument.</p> <p>Where the respondent had denied that he had been convicted of any former offenses, and subsequently admitted that he had been arrested and convicted, the prosecuting attorney was entitled to comment in his argument upon the veracity of the accused and draw inferences from apparent inconsistent statements.</p> <p>4. Same — Conduct oe Court — Murder.</p> <p>Nor was it prejudicial to the rights of-the respondent for the court, during the argument of the prosecuting attorney, to warn counsel for the accused not to interrupt but to take his exceptions.</p> <p>5. Same — New Trial.</p> <p>Held, also, that a new trial was not improperly denied upon affidavits of the defense wholly or partly met or contradicted by affidavits of the prosecution, relating to newly discovered evidence.</p>

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““The police have the power and it is also their duty to search the person of one lawfully arrested, and also the room or place in which he is arrested, and also any other place to which they can get lawful access, for articles that may be used in evidence to prove the charge on which he is arrested.””

quoted by 3 later decisions, including People v. Harris, People v. Chyc

Relies on Weeks v. United States · People v. . Adams · People v. Hess

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Affirmed · Decided 1914-06-01

How this case has been cited

Cited by 20 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently November 1961

1 federal appellate · 18 state decisions

120191419201930194019501960decided

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 →

Brooke, J.

¶1(after stating the facts). There are 18 assignments of error. The first two relate to the ruling of the court in permitting the witness Martin to answer the question, “I will ask you whether or not you found thése revolvers there?” and in compelling the defendant Cona to answer the question, “And they are your guns, aren’t they?” It is urged on behalf of defendant that the seizure of the revolvers in question was in violation of the Federal Constitution, citing Weeks v. United States, 232 U. S. 383 (34 Sup. Ct. 344). A reading of the opinion in that case makes it apparent, that the principles there announced and relied upon by the defendant are not applicable in the case at bar. People v. Adams, *652176 N. Y. 851 (68 N. E. 636, 63 L. R. A. 406, 98 Am. St. Rep, 675); Smith v. Jerome, 47 Misc. Rep. 22, 93 N. Y. Supp. 202. In the latter case it is said:

“The police have the power and it is also their duty to search the person of one lawfully arrested, and also the room or place in which he is arrested, and also any other place to which they can get lawful access, for articles that may be used in evidence to prove the charge on which he is arrested.”

¶2The third assignment is based upon the ruling of the court in requiring the defendant to answer the question, “Now since you have been in Detroit have you had any other trouble with the officers, the police officers?” We are of opinion that the defendant having offered himself as a witness in his own behalf could be interrogated as to his former convictions, and the question objected to was, as shown by the testimony quoted, simply preliminary to that investigation.

¶3Assignments of error 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 refer to alleged improper argument made by the prosecuting attorney on behalf of the people. That argument has been set out in the statement of facts. Defendant bases these exceptions upon the cases of People v. Quick, 58 Mich. 321 (25 N. W. 302); People v. Treat, 77 Mich. 348 (43 N. W. 983) ; People v. Lieska, 161 Mich. 630 (126 N. W. 636); People v. Huff, 173 Mich. 620 (139 N. W. 1033). There can be no difference of opinion as to the ruling announced in these cases. It is the duty of the prosecutor to protect the innocent as well as to pursue the guilty and to maintain an impartial attitude in the conduct of his case. But this court has never held that it is improper for the prosecutor to comment upon the testimony in the case and to draw warrantable inferences therefrom. People v. Winslow, 39 Mich. 505; Driscoll v. People, 47 Mich. 413 (11 N. W. 221); People v. Welch, 80 Mich. *653616 (45 N. W. 482) ; People v. Hess, 85 Mich. 128 (48 N. W. 181) ; People v. Tubbs, 147 Mich. 1 (110 N. W. 182).

¶4In the sixth assignment of error a further complaint is made of the language of the trial judge in admonishing counsel for defendant in these words:

“Now, listen; no more interruptions. Take your exceptions to his argument if you have got any to make. He didn’t interrupt you. Let him finish.”

¶5That portion of the argument of the prosecutor set out in the statement of facts indicates very frequent interruptions on the part of defendant’s counsel and may be held to justify the statement by the court. A similar remark by the court in the case of People v. Ecarius, 124 Mich. 616 (83 N. W. 628), was held to be insufficient upon which to order a new trial.

¶6Assignments of error numbers 10 to 13, inclusive, are based upon alleged erroneous instructions to the jury. No requests to charge were preferred on behalf of the defendant. A careful examination of the charge convinces us that the rights of the defendant were carefully guarded by the court. At the conclusion of the charge the court inquired of counsel for defendant if there was anything further he desired to have him charge, to which counsel responded: “That is all, your honor; thank you.”

¶7Error is assigned upon the refusal of the court to grant a new trial because of newly discovered evidence. We have examined the affidavits filed in support of that motion. They are all dated more than two months after the date of the homicide. Affidavits filed by the prosecution in opposition to the motion cast doubt upon some of the statements contained in the affidavits filed upon the part of the defense. In view of the positive identification of the defendant by Officer Raedle and the fact that he was seen in the vicinity of the scene of the crime within a few min*654utes of the commission thereof, we cannot say that the trial judge abused his discretion in declining to grant the motion.

¶8The conviction is affirmed.

McAlvay, C. J., and Kuhn, Stone, Ostrander, Bird, Moore, and Steere, JJ., concurred.
/180/mich/641 · .json · Public domain