Court Opinion

ID: 9824747
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 11:15:22.233698+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:40:01.293671
License: Public Domain

On Rehearing.
Upon this application for rehearing, by the State, the Attorney General reiterates the insistence, made upon original brief, to the effect:
“The defendant, not the State selected the evidence introduced to establish his plea of autrefois acquit. The appellant himself introduced evidence that at the former trial he had been sentenced to imprisonment for twenty years.”
The record before us does not bear out or sustain this insistence. To the contrary, it affirmatively appears, from the *114record, that defendant as a result of the trial court’s adverse rulings, was forced to offer the full minutes of the court, as stated in our original opinion. As to this counsel for appellant pertinently and correctly insists in brief as follows :
“The court below erred in the manner in which he required defendant to establish by the record, or ‘to reasonably satisfy the jury’ that he had been acquitted of murder in the first degree. This acquittal had happened in the same court before the same judge with the same solicitor prosecuting. It was a matter of absolute record in the court where the defendant was in this instance tried.
“The judicial notice or knowledge of the court of its own records was invoked; and defehdant insisted that the only thing that should have possibly required any evidence whatsoever before the jury was as to the identity of the defendant. That testimony was offered without dispute. Then the defendant’s counsel invoked the Court’s instruction for a directed verdict, which was refused.
“Defendant’s offer of such evidence was under his most violent objection and protest on the part of the defendant, asserting as strongly as possible his rights in the matter and insisting that the Court take judicial notice of its own records and charge the jury to the effect that this defendant at the time could be put to trial only upon the indictment charging murder in the second degree before and after defendant’s identity was established without dispute.
“On this proposition the Court ruled when judicial knowledge of its own records was invoked in behalf of the defendant as follows as to whether the Court would take such judicial knowledge:
“ ‘No, sir, I don’t think so. The jury has to pass on them, not me. I think it was up to the defendant to prove it to the reasonable satisfaction of the jury.’ Defendant excepted.
“As to the situation and the compulsion of the Court to require the defendant to offer the record and the minutes of the Court, we think the following excerpt from the attorney general’s brief does not correctly reflect the picture.
“After the identity of the defendant was proven beyond peradventure, the court sustained the State’s repeated objections to any evidence except the record palpable purpose being to get before the jury the fact of the defendant’s former conviction and of the sentence imposed on the former trial.
“The Court ruled as follows :
“ T am basing my ruling on the proposition that is not the best evidence. The record of the court would be the best evidence.’ Exception was duly reserved. (The Court had theretofore ruled that the jury was to decide the effect of such record.)
“Thereupon after the testimony and proceedings as shown on pages 64, 65 and 66 of the record, after the identity of the defendant was proved without dispute and beyond peradventure, the ruling of the court was again invoked as follows by defendant’s counsel:
“ ‘Now, if the Court please, in order to get the matter before the Court I want, at this time, to move this court for an instructed verdict based on the theory that this court take judicial knowledge of its own record.’ The Court overruled the motion and defendant then and there duly excepted. Thereupon the Court ruled:
“ T think the minutes of the Court would be the best evidence.’
“After the Court had thus required the defendant, in order to establish a plea of formal acquittal of murder in the first degree by offering the minutes of the court to the jury; and in also requiring defendant to show to the jury that the case had been reversed; while waiting for the official minutes to be procured, the opinion of this court showing the reversal was read to the jury.
“The court had already ruled and under compulsion required the defendant to offer to the jury the minutes on the former trial in order to establish his plea, and the minutes set out the verdict of the jury and sentence on the former trial.
“These minutes were offered as shown on pages 72, 73 and 74 of Record. It was not sufficient to show the trial and acquittal but the minutes under the ruling of the court had to be offered to the jury reciting that the said defendant was guilty of murder in the second degree as charged in said indictment; also in accordance with the verdict of the jury that the said Ezekiel Lovejoy be sentenced to the penitentiary for the term of twenty years.
“The court minutes set out the verdict of the former jury giving the, name of J. S. Dykes as foreman and same was set out as follows in the middle of said court minutes :
“ ‘We the jury find the defendant guilty of murder in the second degree as charged *115in the indictment and fix his punishment at twenty years imprisonment in the penitentiary. J. S. Dykes, foreman.’
“It is most notable that in the instant case this jury brought in the same verdict and fixed the same penalty.
“To say that the defendant’s rights have not been sacrificed thereby; that the defendant was not prejudiced by this compulsion of the court below forcing the defendant to offer evidence of his former conviction of murder in the second degree and the penalty of twenty years been fixed by the jury, by offering the minutes of the court on his plea of former acquittal, when this was a matter of record in the same court and before the same jury; to say this was not error and not injury to the defendant because his counsel under such compulsion of the court had been forced to offer the court records himself, is to overlook the compulsion and the duress under which defendant was forced to act at the time.
“A reading of the transcript of the testimony as set out in the record of this case could hardly justify the attorney general in his contention that the defendant waived any of his rights in that connection; the attorney general says a mere certificate of reversal would have been sufficient. But the Court below held that the only way to prove that was by offering the minutes of the court which had to be read to the jury; and not construed and passed upon by the court itself and that such court minutes showed the verdict of the jury, the degree of the guilt found by the jury, and the sentence inflicted.”
Application for rehearing overruled.