Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 March 1914 — Called Involuntary Evidence. [ARTICLE]

Called Involuntary Evidence.

The question as to whether things a man says in his sleep may be used against him was involved In Martinez vs. People, 132 Pacific Reporter,- where the defendant was charged with the murder of a woman. One of the people’s witnesses testified that a few days after the killing he slept in a bunkhouse with, defendant, and that about half past one in the morning he heard him exclaim: “I shot her! 1 shot her! I shot her! I had to do it to save myself from the , pen;" and that he thought defendant was asleep, but did not know. The supreme court of Colorado holds that it Is only the voluntary statements of a party that may be used against him, and one Is not responsible for what he says in bis sleep because he Is unconscious and it is not voluntary, and that where there is a question as to whether defendant was asleep or awake whsn be made the utterances it should be left to the Jury under. proper instructions. /