Court Opinion

ID: 9812497
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 22:40:16.663281+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:25:02.707868
License: Public Domain

Walker, J.,
concurring in the result: I think the opinion of the Court in this case states the correct rule with respect to the credit a jury should give to a witness likely to be biased by his interest in the cause or his relation to it or to the parties, when it says: “The prisoner further excepts because the court charged the jury: 'When you come to consider the testimony of his *463father and mother, it is your duty to consider their relationship to him, their partiality to him, and the effect that it would have on them to have him convicted; and then ascertain as best you can what influence that would have upon the truthfulness of their testimony, and then give to the testimony of each one that weight and effect which under all the circumstances^ you think he is entitled/ We find no error in this instruction. It calls fairly to the attention of the jury the attendant circumstances which might bias their .testimony and left the jury to judge what weight and effect they should give it.” This, as I understand the law, and have always understood it, is substantially the correct rule. It provides against undue influence upon the jury by bias, and, at the same time, gives to the testimony of the •interested witness its proper weight, if not thus influenced, and also subjects it to further examinatidn and scrutiny by the jury, as regards any other circumstance, such as character, demeanor, opportunity for knowledge, and so forth, which may be calculated to strengthen or weaken it, so that finally the jury, upon full, consideration of them all, may intelligently consider the testimony and extract the truth from it. I also concur in this statement, when referring -to the defendant’s own testimony: “The law imposes upon the jurors the duty of carefully scrutinizing his testimony, and, after considering it, to determine as best they can what influence his interest in the result of the prosecution will have upon his testimony, and then, give to his testimony that weight and effect which under all -the circumstances you and your conscience think it is entitled to.” I do not assent to the qualification of it in these words: “If you think he told the- truth, it is your duty to give to his testimony the same weight and effect you would to the testimony-of any disinterested witness.” If the jury find that a witness has told the truth, they should, of course, decide according to his testimony, without the necessity of any comparison with others. The truth is what they are required to find. If it is meant that if they find that the witness was not influenced by his natural bias, they should give his testimony the same weight and effect as the testimony of the other witnesses who are disinterested and *464impartial (and that is what I suppose is meant), it is clearly erroneous, because, his bias removed, the interested witness may still not be entitled to the same weight as the others, as they, by their greater intelligence, knowledge of the facts, demeanor in the witness box; and so forth, may have entitled themselves to the greater confidence of the jury and their testimony to greater weight.
We had better follow the long line of precedents established by this Court throughout many years, and adopt the first rule stated in the opinion, without the added qualification. S. v. Nash, 30 N. C., 35; S. v. Nat, 51 N. C., 114; Flynt v. Bodenhamer, 80 N. C., 205; S. v. Byers, 100 N. C., 512; Hill v. Sprinkle, 76 N. C., 353; S. v. Vann, 162 N. C., 534; S. v. Graham, 133 N. C., 652; Herndon v. R. R., 162 N. C., 317, and numerous other cases decided by us to the same effect.
The qualification of the rule, though, as made by the court below, was in favor of the defendant, and he, therefore, cannot complain.
BeowN, J., concurs in this opinion.