Wyatt

Defendant was convicted of the crime of arson, and appeals from a judgment of three years’ imprisonment pronounced upon a verdict of guilty, and" from an order denying his motion for a new trial.

The only error urged as a ground for a reversal is based upon a ruling of the trial court sustaining an objection to a question addressed to a witness for the prosecution on cross-examination. It is contended that the purpose of the question was to disclose animus upon the part of the witness toward the defendant. To the extent that it was directed to this end, the question was proper, and if it had been confined to this should, and no doubt would, have been allowed, but, as it contained a covert insinuation of improper conduct upon the part of the witness to whom addressed, it was not a proper question unless the part containing such insinuation were necessary to elicit the information respecting the animus. Had this element been omitted from the question, the witness might have admitted her animus, or, if the question had been directed to this purpose alone and she had refused to answer, the reasons of the animus might have become proper matter of cross-examination. It is apparent,…