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Shook v. State

Carroll L. Shook v. State

Shook v. State, 244 S.W.2d 220 (Tex. Crim. App. 1951)
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Court
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas · State Highest Courts
Decided
October 24, 1951
Docket
No. 25409
Judges
Woodley, Morrison
Citations
244 S.W.2d 220156 Tex. Crim. 5151951 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1673

Opinion of the Court — Woodley

WOODLEY, Judge.

The conviction is for nighttime burglary, the jury having assessed the punishment at 6 years in the penitentiary.

The proof shows that a window was pried open and the office of J. T. Dulaney, the injured party, was ransacked and some $300 in money, a watch, and some jewelry were taken.

Appellant was a former police officer of the city of San Antonio, and his fingerprints were on file there. Prints taken from the burglarized premises were found to be the prints of appellant, and, following his arrest, he confessed to the burglary.

' Appellant urges that the evidence is insufficient to show that the offense was committed in the nighttime as alleged in the count of the indictment submitted to the jury.

The injured party testified, without objection, “this place was broken into in the nighttime.” Appellant, in his confession, said that he and his companion committed the offense at about 1 o’clock A.M. We therefore overrule appellant’s contention.

We also overrule appellant’s Bill of Exception No. 3 wherein he questions the admissibility of the confession because he was *517 arrested without warrant and was not taken before a magistrate. The question here raised was decided adversely to appellant’s contention in Dimery v. State, (Page 197 of this volume), 240 S.W. (2d) 293 .

The remaining bill complains that the indictment should have alleged the manner in which the burglary was committed in the disjunctive, that is, “by force, threats or fraud” rather than the allegations made in the indictment that the entry was made “by force, threats and fraud.”

Such allegations were properly made in the conjunctive. See Branch’s Ann. P.C. page 258, Sec. 503.

No error appearing, the judgment is affirmed.

Opinion approved by the Court.

On Rehearing — Morrison

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING MORRISON, Judge.

Appellant complains because in our original opinion we referred to appellant’s confession as evidence that the burglary had been committed at night.

Appellant’s contention seems to be that, since another trial court in another case had held the confession of appellant inadmissible, it became thereafter inadmissible in all courts. It is rudimentary that courts are not bound by the decisions of other courts of equal jurisdiction. The power to establish precedent is lodged in courts of superior jurisdiction.

In the case at bar, the jury evidently found appellant’s confession to have been voluntarily made.

Appellant further complains because our original opinion was predicated upon Dimery v. State (Page 197 of this volume), 240 S. W. (2d) 293 , which case, he says, is not based upon sound principles of law. Since the opinion of this court in the Dimery case, the rule there announced has been approved by the Supreme Court of the United States in Gallegos vs. Nebraska. ( 72 S. Ct. 141 .) Therein, the Supreme Court of the United States held that a confesison is not vitiated alone because of the failure to take the accused before a magistrate.

Appellant’s motion for rehearing is overruled.

Combined text as published — syllabus, headnotes and all opinions in one document

244 S.W.2d 220 (1951)

SHOOK

v.

STATE.

No. 25409.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

October 24, 1951. Rehearing Denied December 12, 1951.

*221 Sam L. Harrison, San Antonio, for appellant.

Austin F. Anderson, Crim. Dist. Atty., Richard J. Woods, Asst. Crim. Dist. Atty., San Antonio, George P. Blackburn, State's Atty., of Austin, for the State.

WOODLEY, Commissioner.

The conviction is for nighttime burglary, the jury having assessed the punishment at 6 years in the penitentiary.

The proof shows that a window was pried open and the officer of J. T. Dulaney, the injured party, was ransacked and some $300 in money, a watch and some jewelry taken.

Appellant was a former police officer of the City of San Antonio, and his fingerprints were on file there. Prints taken from the burglarized premises were found to be the prints of appellant, and following his arrest, he confessed to the burglary.

Appellant urges that the evidence is insufficient to show that the offense was committed in the nighttime as alleged in the count of the indictment submitted to the jury.

The injured party testified, without objection, "this place was broken into in the nighttime." Appellant, in his confession, said that he and his companion committed the offense at about 1 o'clock A.M. We therefore overrule appellant's contention.

We also overrule appellant's bill No. 3 wherein he questions the admissibility of the confession because he was arrested without warrant and was not taken before a magistrate. The question here raised was decided adversely to appellant's contention in Dimery v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 240 S.W.2d 293 .

The remaining bill complains that the indictment should have alleged the manner in which the burglary was committed in the disjunctive, that is, "by force, threats or fraud" rather than the allegations made in the indictment that the entry was made "by force, threats and fraud."

Such allegations were properly made in the conjunctive. See Branch's Ann. P.C., 258, Sec. 503.

No error appearing, the judgment is affirmed.

Opinion approved by the Court.

On Motion for Rehearing

MORRISON, Judge.

Appellant complains because in our original opinion we referred to appellant's confession as evidence that the burglary had been committed at night.

Appellant's contention seems to be that, since another trial court in another case had held the confession of appellant inadmissible, it became thereafter inadmissible in all courts. It is rudimentary that courts are not bound by the decisions of other courts of equal jurisdiction. The power to establish precedent is lodged in courts of superior jurisdiction.

In the case at bar, the jury evidently found appellant's confession to have been voluntarily made.

Appellant further complains because our original opinion was predicated upon Dimery v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 240 S.W.2d 293 , which case, he says, is not based upon sound principles of law. Since the opinion of this Court in the Dimery case, the rule there announced has been approved by the Supreme Court of the United States in Gallegos v. Nebraska, 72 S.Ct. 141 . Therein, the Supreme Court held that a confession is not vitiated alone because of the failure to take the accused before a magistrate

Appellant's motion for rehearing is overruled.

How later courts describe this case

Explanatory parentheticals written by citing courts — 8 in all; the most informative distinct ones are shown.

Cited by 20 cases

View all citing references →
1952: 21953: 21954: 21955: 11967: 11985: 11995: 12004: 12008: 32010: 12013: 12015: 22016: 12024: 119522026peak 2008 · 3

Relies on it most ⓘ

  1. Cannon v. State691 S.W.2d 664 (Tex. Crim. App. 1985)
  2. Delamora v. State128 S.W.3d 344 (Tex. App.—Austin 2004)
  3. Simien v. Unifund CCR Partners321 S.W.3d 235 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2010)
  4. Satterfield v. Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc.268 S.W.3d 190 (Tex. App.—Austin 2008)
  5. Gasway v. State248 S.W.2d 942 (Tex. Crim. App. 1952)
  6. Sampson v. State268 S.W.2d 661 (Tex. Crim. App. 1953)

Most recent

  1. Daniel v. StateNo. PD-0037-22 (Tex. Crim. App. Feb. 14, 2024)
  2. Garcia v. State508 S.W.3d 655 (Tex. App. 2016)
  3. Guerrero, DamienNo. PD-0669-15 (Tex. App. July 22, 2015)
  4. Damien Guerrero v. StateNo. 02-13-00611-CR (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Mar. 26, 2015)
  5. Moore, Ronald Adolph v. StateNo. 05-09-01352-CR (Tex. App.—Dallas May 13, 2013)
  6. Simien v. Unifund CCR Partners321 S.W.3d 235 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2010)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 2

DepthCaseCited by
Dimery v. State, 240 S.W.2d 293 (Tex. Crim. App. 1951) 22
Gallegos v. Nebraska, 342 U.S. 55 (1951) 203

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