{ "id": 8658129, "name": "STATE v. SANDY McIVER", "name_abbreviation": "State v. McIver", "decision_date": "1918-10-02", "docket_number": "", "first_page": "718", "last_page": "722", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "176 N.C. 718" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "N.C.", "id": 9292, "name": "Supreme Court of North Carolina" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 5, "name_long": "North Carolina", "name": "N.C." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "46 Tex. Ct. App., 461", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Tex. Ct. App.", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "147 Ala., 97", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ala.", "case_ids": [ 3526633 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ala/147/0097-01" ] }, { "cite": "129 N. C., 501", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "143 N. C., 607", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8658483 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/143/0607-01" ] }, { "cite": "151 N. C., 676", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8655954 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/151/0676-01" ] }, { "cite": "146 N. C., 616", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "weight": 2, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "153 N. C., 591", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 11273362 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/153/0591-01" ] }, { "cite": "171 N. C., 814", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "opinion_index": 0 } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 531, "char_count": 9149, "ocr_confidence": 0.465, "pagerank": { "raw": 9.245402722259213e-08, "percentile": 0.5110529610027457 }, "sha256": "6728580e92df8b3baa2a3b16ca36d08f9ac3b9943e25f8eecebc8a74ea8c9d44", "simhash": "1:b43288ab9f761ccb", "word_count": 1634 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T20:39:13.878101+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [], "parties": [ "STATE v. SANDY McIVER." ], "opinions": [ { "text": "Hoke, J.\nIt was chiefly objected to the validity of the trial that his Honor refused to strike out the, evidence tending to show that bloodhounds had tracked the accused; and, second, his refusal to nonsuit on the entire evidence; but we are of opinion that neither position can be sustained.\nIt is fully recognized in this jurisdiction that the action of bloodhounds may be received in evidence when it is shown that they have been accustomed and trained to pursue the human track \u2014 have been found, by experience, reliable in such cases; and, further, that in the particular instance they were put on the trail of the guilty party and have pursued and followed it under such circumstances and in 'such a way as to afford substantial assurance or permit a reasonable inference of identification. Decisions in illustration of the principle and the proper limitations upon it;will be \u2019found in S. v. Wiggins, 171 N. C., 814; S. v. Norman, 153 N. C., 591; S. v. Freeman, 146 N. C., 616; S. v. Spivy, 151 N. C., 676; S. v. Hunter, 143 N. C., 607; S. v. Moore, 129 N. C., 501; Hargrave v. State, 147 Ala., 97; Parker v. State, 46 Tex. Ct. App., 461; S. v. Dickinsoni, 77 Ohio State, 34. A Very full and satisfactory statement- of the position will be found in this last case, as follows: \u201cIn order to make competent evidence of the conduct of bloodhounds in trailing or following the tracks of one accused of crime, it is necessary that a preliminary foundation be laid therefor, by showing by some one or more having personal knowledge of the facts that the particular dog so used had been trained and tested in trailing human beings, and by experience had been found reliable in such cases, and that the dog so trained and tested was, in the instance involved, laid on the' trail, whether it was visible or invisible, at a point where the circumstances tended to show that the guilty party had been, or upon a track which the circumstances indicated to have been made by him.\u201d\nAnd in S. v. Freeman, supra, speaking to this kind of evidence and its proper reception, the Court said: \u201cWhere the training, character, and conduct of the dog make his acts evidence, such acts may be either a circumstance or corroborating evidence. Their admission as evidence is not restricted to cases in which the dog\u2019s acts are corroborative only. It is sufficient if the evidence of the conduct of the dog, taken with other facts and circumstances in evidence, should be enough to authorize a verdict.\u201d\nConsidering the facts as they appear of record, these and other eases of like purport are in full support of his Honor\u2019s rulings. The evidence on the part of the State tended to show that on the night of 24 June Mrs. McPhail and her daughters and her little son had been sitting in the dining-room, and one of the daughters got up to go into a bedroom, the latter opening into the sitting-room and having also an opening into a screened outside porch, the latter opening into the yard; that when she entered the bedroom some one was under the bed; he jumped out and made a grab at the witness; that she eluded him and ran out in the dining-room and screamed, and the person fled. The others joined in the alarm. Soon a neighbor and others came in. That defendant lived about a mile down the road from Mrs. McPhail and had been there a short while before the occurrence, doing work on their porch; that between 1 and 2 o\u2019clock the dogs were brought, \u201cput on the trail under the bed,\u201d and when they came out they went out the doorway on to the screen porch, right across the yard and out into the old road; followed down the road a mile er a little over; passed several houses, and finally went up to defendant\u2019s house, and as they went, up, the defendant, standing on the porch, said: \u201cI\u2019m not the man\u201d; this before any statement or accusation had been made; that the dogs went into the house and up to some overalls and also a pair of low-quartered shoes that were not far 'away. The defendant admitted having had on the overalls that day, but said he had not had the shoes on since the Sunday before. Speaking, to the kind and character of the dogs and their conduct in following the trail, tbe owner wbo bad them in charge said: \u201cThey were registered, thoroughbred bloodhounds. One he had owned three years and a half, and one a year; that they were trained to run human beings; had had a good deal of experience with them, and they were trained when he got them; that he had made from three to ten trips a month with them, and they had proved thoroughly reliable.\u201d The witness said he could not look for tracks at first, the crowd being around, but when he got away from the house 300 or 400 yards and along the trail the dogs were' following, he saw tracks, examined them carefully, and they corresponded in size with the tracks of the shoes, and one of them gave indication of a hole in the center 'of the wearer\u2019s shoe and a peculiar wearing-off of the left heel, and both of them corresponded with the marks of defendant\u2019s shoes.\nIt was also shown in evidence that the shoes which defendant said he had not worn since Sunday gave every indication that they were still damp from recent wearing. There was proof also of tracks along the road, 50 yards of the house and going towards it, that corresponded in size with defendant\u2019s shoes. In reference to the conduct of the dogs in following the track, another witness, George Temple, testified, among other things, as follows:\nQ. \u201cWith respect to the tracks you spoke of, coming near the house, where did the dogs trdil ?\u201d\nA. \u201cThey came out of the back door of the room on to the porch and \u2019round the house, and went to where the tracks were \u2014 trailed just as if they wanted to eat something, until they got to Sandy\u2019s house. They almost broke Mr. Cockman down, pulling him so hard. When they got to Sandy\u2019s house, they quieted right down. There were some overalls lying on the floor, and Sandy said: \u2018They are mine. I have been wearing them all day.\u2019 The female dog put her paw on them just as contented as if she had caught a rabbit.\u201d '\nWhatever misgivings may at times exist as to the admission of this kind of evidence, there would seem to be none in the present instance; and the action of the dogs, with the other facts and circumstances tending to fix the guilt upon defendant, are, in our opinion, sufficient to support his Honor\u2019s rulings and justify the verdict of the jury.\nIt was also objected that one of the daughters of Mrs. McPhail, in closing her evidence-in-chief, had stated that one of her sisters had been \u201coff canvassing for War Savings Stamps, about a mile away. I think she went in the community where Sandy lives.\u201d This was a voluntary statement of the witness, not called for by any question. It had already appeared in evidence, and without objection, that the sister had been so engaged, and the statement would seem to be without appreciable significance on the results of the trial \u2014 assuredly so, in the absence of any testimony tending to-show that her occupation was known to defendant. In no event could it be Held for reversible error. \u00a5e find no error in the record, and the judgment must be affirmed.\nNo error.", "type": "majority", "author": "Hoke, J." } ], "attorneys": [ "Attorney-General Manning and Assistant Attorney-General Nash for the S.tate.", "\u201cE. L. Gavin for defendant." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "STATE v. SANDY McIVER.\n(Filed 2 October, 1918.)\nI.' Criminal Law \u2014 Evidence\u2014Bloodhounds.\nThe action of bloodhounds may he received in evidence when 'it is shown that they have been accustomed to pursue the human track, have been found by experience reliable,in such cases, and that in the \u2022 particular instance they were put on the trail of the accused and pursued, and followed it under such circumstances and in such a way as to afford' substantial, assurance \u00f3r permit a reasonable inference of identification.-\n2. Same \u2014 Footprints\u2014Identification.\nEvidence tliat trained and experienced bloodhounds had been put on the trail of the accused at the place he had been at work during the day; that they followed his tracks down the road a mile, passing other dwellings to his own, where he was found; that he protested his innocence without accusation; that the energy of the hounds then became passive or content, one of them placing its paw on overalls he admitted he had been wearing, and that there were particular marks on the bottom of the shoes of the accused which corresponded with the tracks which had been followed, both as to the markings and size and shape, is sufficient to be submitted to the jury upon the question of his guilt.\n3. Appeal and Error \u2014 Evidence\u2014Prejudicial Error \u2014 Harmless Error.\nAn unresponsive answer by a witness to a question, which could not have had appreciable significance on the result of the trial, will, not be held reversible error on appeal.\nActioN tried before Daniels, J., and a jury, at July Term, 1918, of Lee.\nThe indictment, under section 3334 of Eevisal, charged defendant with being in the dwelling-house of Mrs. J. A. McPhail, in said county, on the night of 24 June, 1918, with intent to commit a felony or other infamous crime therein.\nYerdict of guilty. Judgment, and defendant excepted and appealed.\nAttorney-General Manning and Assistant Attorney-General Nash for the S.tate.\n\u201cE. L. Gavin for defendant." }, "file_name": "0718-01", "first_page_order": 770, "last_page_order": 774 }