Opinion ID: 1479429
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Wrongful Admission of Prejudicial Evidence.

Text: Finally, Baxley complains that he was prejudiced by evidence, which should not have been admitted, of his statements that he was opposed to war and all killing of human beings, that he would not salute the flag, that he had advised his own son not to fight or wear the uniform, that Germany was sure to win the war, that he would rather live under Hitlerism than the United States. It is highly probable that the evidence of such statements by Baxley did place him in an unfavorable light before the jury. We think, however, that such evidence was proper and was admissible, when the District Judge carefully cautioned the jury in connection with the effect and bearing of these statements. If Baxley made these remarks, they gave a complete, rather than a partial, picture of what he actually said. There were practical difficulties involved in any endeavor to exclude, and to exclude only, evidence of these and similar statements made by him. This evidence was also germane as tending to show that such attempts as Baxley may have made to advise the evasion of the Selective Service Act were not based solely on the religious tenets that he so deeply believed and so vigorously advocated.