Commonwealth v. Wright

• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: QUIGLEY, C.J.
• Citation: Commonwealth v. Wright, 27 S.W. 815 (Ky. Ct. App. 1894)
• Decision Date: 29 September 1894
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. WRIGHT.

27 S.W. 815

COMMONWEALTH v. WRIGHT.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

September 29, 1894

Appeal from circuit court, Meade county.

"To be officially reported."

A charge of seduction against Charles Wright was dismissed, and the commonwealth appeals. Affirmed.

W. J Hendrick and Weed S. Chelf, for the Commonwealth.

J. W Lewis, for appellee.

QUIGLEY C.J.

The defendant below, in January, 1894, was indicted by the grand jury of Meade county, in the Meade circuit court, for seducing a female under 16 years of age, under promise of marriage. At the April term of said court, on the calling of the case for trial, the defendant, in open court, stated that it had always been his intention to marry the young lady, and that he had offered to do so theretofore, and she had refused to marry him, and that he now, again, in good faith, in her presence and in the presence of her mother,-her father being dead,-in open court, offered and proposed to marry her, which offer she and her mother, in open court, declined to accept. Thereupon, on motion of defendant, the prosecution was dismissed, and from the judgment of the court dismissing the prosecution the commonwealth has appealed to this court for a construction of the statute in such cases made and provided.

The statute under which the indictment was found was enacted by the Kentucky legislature in 1886, and was approved the 12th day of May of that year. That statute has been repealed and superseded by the present law on the subject of seduction which is to be found in section 1214, subd. 12, of chapter 36 of the Kentucky Statutes, and reads as follows: "Whoever shall, under promise of marriage, seduce and have carnal knowledge of any female under twenty one years of age, shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than one year nor more than five years. No prosecution shall be instituted when the person charged shall have married the girl seduced; and any prosecution instituted shall be discontinued, if the party accused marry the girl seduced before final judgment. All prosecutions under this section shall be instituted within two years after the commission of the offense." The only material difference between the present law and the statute of 1886 is that the former applied only to females under 16 years of age, while the present law applies to any female under 21 years of age. The words "seduce...