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72 Miss. 108

Holman v. State

Mississippi Supreme Court

Decided October 15, 1894

Mississippi Supreme Court · decided 1894-10-15

FROM the circuit court of Carroll county. HoN. C. H. Campbell, Judge. Nez Holman and Ben Ball were jointly indicted for burglary, and pleaded not guilty. Afterwards, at the same term, Holman moved for leave to withdraw his plea, and ask for a severance. The court overruled his motion, refused the severance, and defendants were jointly tried.

Cited by 1 later decisions — most recently September 1971

1 state decisions

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1894-10-15

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Woods, J.,

¶1delivered the opinion of the court.

¶2The court having, in its discretion,, ref used to grant the appellant a severance on his motion, made after he had entered his plea of not guilty, should not have required him to take the witness stand and testify on the demand of his codefendant. He was then himself on trial, and whether he should appear as a witness or not on that trial was for his own determination. If the severance had been granted, then, under our statute, one *110defendant not on trial, is made a competent, witness for bis co-defendant. But to compel a defendant, over his objection, to appear as a witness on his own trial, even as a witness for his. codefendant, is inadmissible. His case may be, and often is, so interwoven with that of his codefendant that to compel him to testify will, generally, as it clearly appears from the bill of exceptions before us was the case in this instance, constrain, him to give evidence against himself, and no defendant can be required to give evidence against himself.

¶3Reversed and remanded,

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