Opinion

Alford v. State

  • 158 Tex. Crim. 311
  • 255 S.W.2d 519
  • 1953 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1591
Court
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
Filed
Mar 4, 1953
Status
Published
Author
Davidson
On the bench
Davidson
Cited by
8 cases
Authority
More cited than 96.0%

The opinion

DAVIDSON, Judge.

Possessing intoxicating liquor in a dry area is the offense; the punishment, a fine of $750 and 90 days in jail.

Appellant was, by an agent of the Texas Liquor Control Board, apprehended upon the streets of the city of Lubbock driving an automobile in which there was a considerable amount of whisky, gin, and beer. Appellant admitted the ownership of the liquor.

The facts abundantly support the jury’s conclusion of guilt.

Appellant did not testify as a witness in his own behalf.

A bill of exception certifies that, in closing argument to the jury, state’s counsel said, “ ‘The defendant did not introduce any evidence as to his job and what he did for a living and as far as you gentlemen are concerned, you don’t know what the defendant does for a living.’ ” ,

The argument was objected to as being a reference to the failure of the appellant to testify as a witness in his own behalf —which objection was overruled. Whereupon, appellant moved that the argument be withdrawn from the jury. The objection and requests were each overruled.

Under the mandatory provisions of Art. 710, C. C. P., it is reversible error for state’s counsel, in argument to the jury, to allude to or comment .upon the failure of the accused to testify as a witness in his own behalf. To come within that prohibition, however, the argument must be such as cannot be reasonbly applied to the failure of the accused to produce other testimony than his own. Hubbard v. State, 94 Tex. Cr. R. 480 , 251 S. W. 1054 .

*313

Neither the evidence nor the record before us suggests that there was no person other than the appellant who could have given testimony as to “ ‘what he did for a living.’ ” Hence, it cannot be said that the argument complained of was a reference to the failure of appellant to testify. See Rambo v. State, 131 Tex. Cr. R. 613 , 101 S. W. 2d 267 ; Fowler v. State, 157 Tex. Cr. R. 147 , 247 S. W. 2d 393 .

The judgment is affirmed.

Opinion approved by the court

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.