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42 Tex. Crim. 540

61 S.W 400

Perry v. State

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas · decided 1901-03-06

Tried below before Hon. J. F. Stout, County Judge. Appeal from a conviction of theft of money under the value of $50; penalty, sixty days confinement in the county jail. The money charged to have been stolen was taken from the possession, and was the property of, Horace Perry. Horace Perry was a brother of Ben Perry, the defendant. Ben Perry was a boy 15 years of age, who lived with his father.

Relies on 35 Tex. Crim. 511 - Thompson v. State · 39 Tex. Crim. 330 - Unsell v. State · Warren v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1901-03-06

How this case has been cited

Cited by 7 later decisions — most recently June 1995

1 federal appellate · 6 state decisions

201901191019201930194019501960197019801990decided

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.

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¶1Appellant was convicted of theft of money under the value of $50, and his punishment assessed at imprisonment in the county jail for sixty days, and he prosecutes this appeal.

¶2Appellant assigns as error a variance between the proof and the allegations as to the description of the money in the information. The information describes the property as "twenty-nine dollars, same being lawful money of the United States of America of the value of twenty-nine dollars." The proof showed four five-dollar bills, silver certificates or national bank notes, and seven one-dollar bills, silver certificates, and one two-dollar bill, also described by the witness as a silver certificate. It has been held in a number of decisions that the allegation "lawful money of the United States" means coin or treasury notes made legal tender by the act of Congress. We are not advised of any case holding that under our statute with reference to theft of money national bank bills or silver certificates are regarded as money. See Otero v. State, 30 Texas Crim. App., 450; Menear v. State, Id., 475; Dukes v. State, 22 Texas Crim. App., 192; Thompson v. State, 35 Tex. Crim. 511; Warren v. State, 29 Tex. 369; Wofford v. State, 29 Texas Crim. App., 536. In our opinion, there was a variance between the allegations in the information and the proof offered. It occurs to us it would have been a very easy matter for the pleader, in drawing the information, to have described the *542 money more fully. The character of bills could have been set forth, and the number and denominations of same. When this is practicable, is should always be done; and, when not, there should be an allegation in the information giving an excuse for the want of this particularity of allegation.

¶3Appellant objected to his alleged confession introduced in evidence by the State through the witness Martin Clark, on the ground that he had not been warned by Clark. However, the bill shows that he had been warned by the city marshal, Cole, on the day previous. The warning, though, was not in accordance with the statute. He was told by the officer that anything he stated "could be used against him or for him." In Barth v. State, 39 Texas Criminal Reports, 381, it was held that the confession need not be made to the party giving the warning, but it must be within such reasonable time thereafter as to indicate defendant remembered and was impressed with the warning given, and made the confession under it, comprehending its legal effect, to wit, that it could be used against him. The warning given here was sufficiently near in point of time, but, appellant being a mere boy, it occurs to us the warning should have been repeated, so as to have put him on guard with reference to his rights. More than this, the warning was not in accordance with the law. Guinn v. State, 39 Tex.Crim. Rep.; Unsell v. State, 39 Tex. Crim. 330.

¶4We also think the testimony given by Clark as to what Claud Maddox told him was clearly hearsay. It is not necessary to notice other assignments. The judgment is reversed, and the cause remanded.

¶5Reversed and remanded.

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