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36 Ala. 295

Blackman v. State

Supreme Court of Alabama

Decided June 15, 1860

Supreme Court of Alabama · decided 1860-06-15

Erom the Circuit Court of Dale. Tried before the lion. John Gill Shorter.

Relies on Goodman v. Walker · Byrd v. Odem

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1860-06-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 20 later decisions — most recently March 1973

2 federal appellate · 17 state decisions — followed in 10 states

70186018701880189019001910192019301940195019601970decided

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 →

R. W. WALKER, J.

¶1Had the defendant Blackman been alone upon trial, we see no reason to doubt that the evidence which was objected to would have been admissible. That a married man pays frequent visits, at night, to the house of a female, and is seen with her in her bedroom, and lying with her on the same bed at night, are *297circumstances, which, of themselves, are well calculated “to lead the guarded discretion of a reasonable and just man to the conclusion ” that the parties have been guilty of adultery. The presumption that the criminal act had been committed would be strengthened by proof that the general reputation of the female was that of a woman who was not disinclined to yield to the temptations ancl improve the opportunities established by such evidence. See Astley v. Astley, 1 Hagg. Eccl. R. 719.

¶2[2.] "Where two defendants are on trial, evidence which is admissible against either of them is competent evidence in the case; and if the other defendant desires to avoid the effect which it may have upon him, he must ask an instruction from the court for that purpose. — Falkner v. Leith, 15 Ala.; Palmer v. Severance, 9 Ala. 756 ; Goodman v. Mitchell, 30 Ala. 482. If the female defendant desired to relieve herself from the influence of the evidence which was offered as to her general reputation, she should have asked the court for an instruction limitiug its effect.

¶3[3.] There was no error in the refusal of the charge asked.

¶4Judgment affirmed.

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