People v. Ah Yute

Houghtaling, the police officer, who arrested the defendant, took him, on the day of the homicide, to the place where the body of the deceased was lying, and where they met Ah Heong, a Chinese woman, and he (Houghtaling) was asked by the prosecution what she said in the presence of the defendant. Defendant objected to the question, on the ground that it wag incompetent, and sought to elicit hearsay testimony. The objection being overruled, the witness answered : “ She said, this (the defendant) is the man who shot and killed him.”

The prosecution did not show, or attempt to show, the conduct of the defendant when thus accused, and thereupon counsel for the defendant moved the Court to strike out the answer of the witness, upon the grounds stated in the objection to the question. The motion was denied, and the defendant reserved an exception.

*90 After the interview above alluded to, the defendant was placed in jail, and the officer then took a Chinese woman and four Chinamen, together with a Chinese interpreter, to the jail, “ for the purpose of identifying the defendant as the man who did the killing ”; and the prosecution, under objection and exception on the part of the…