Lawhon v. State
Annotate this Case284 S.W.2d 730 (1955)
Claude LAWHON, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
No. 27878.
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.
December 7, 1955.
Martin & Shown, by W. E. Martin, Houston, for appellant.
Dan Walton, Dist. Atty., Eugene Brady, Thomas D. White, Asst. Dist. Attys., Houston, Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
MORRISON, Presiding Judge.
The offense is the sale of whiskey in a wet area without having procured a permit from the Texas Liquor Control Board; the punishment, a fine of $125.
The State, through her able District Attorney, concedes error. The State's principal witness failed to identify the accused as the person who had sold the whiskey to him. There were no other witnesses to the sale. The State plead surprise and introduced a statement made by their witness. This evidence impeaching their witness cannot be used as primary evidence against the appellant. Wells v. State, 154 Tex.Cr.R. 336, 227 S.W.2d 210.
The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
