Busby v. State
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
89 Tex. Crim. 213 (1921)

- Written by Sara Rhee, JD
Facts
Samuel Busby (defendant) was charged with bigamy after marrying his second wife, Ollie Gibson. Busby testified at trial that at the time he married Gibson, he believed his first marriage to Gracie Leona Rogers had been dissolved. Busby had sued Rogers for divorce, and Busby’s sister had received a letter from Rogers in which Rogers stated that she was divorced. Busby also sought to introduce testimony from Gibson, who would have testified that she learned from Busby’s divorce lawyer that the divorce had been granted. The trial court excluded Gibson’s testimony on the ground that it was hearsay. Busby was convicted of bigamy by a jury. Busby appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Morrow, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.