Hart v. State

Decision Date05 February 1898
Citation117 Ala. 183,23 So. 43
PartiesHART v. STATE.
CourtAlabama Supreme Court

Appeal from circuit court, Covington county; J. W. Foster, Judge.

John Hart was convicted of seduction, and appeals. Reversed rendered, and remanded.

There were two indictments preferred against the defendant in this case. The first was preferred at the spring term, 1895, of the circuit court of Covington county, and was destroyed by fire. At the fall term, 1895, another indictment was preferred, and it was upon this indictment that the trial was had. Before interposing his plea, the defendant moved the court to quash the indictment, upon the following grounds "(1) Because the indictment was found upon the uncorroborated testimony of the woman alleged to have been seduced. (2) Because Augusta Pagett, the woman alleged to have been seduced, was examined before the grand jury preferring the indictment, and said indictment was found upon her uncorroborated testimony. (3) Because Augusta Pagett, the woman alleged to have been seduced, was the only witness examined before the grand jury preferring this indictment. (4) Because there was no legal evidence before the grand jury preferring this indictment, corroborative of the evidence of the woman alleged to have been seduced." The defendant introduced evidence in support of his motion which showed that the grounds of the motion were well taken. The state introduced evidence tending to show that at the time the first indictment was preferred (at the spring term, 1895) there was other evidence than the testimony of Augusta Pagett before the grand jury, which corroborated her testimony. The motion to quash the indictment was overruled, and the defendant duly excepted.

Hickman & Riley, for appellant.

Wm. C Fitts, Atty. Gen., for the State.

COLEMAN J.

The defendant was charged by indictment with the offense of seduction. Before pleading to the indictment, he moved to quash it, upon various grounds, which appear in the statement of the case. Section 4015 of the Criminal Code of 1886 reads as follows: "Any man, who, by means of temptation deception, arts, flattery, or a promise of marriage, seduces any unmarried woman in this state, must, on conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary for not less than one, nor more than ten years; but no indictment or conviction shall be had under this section on the uncorroborated testimony of the woman upon whom the seduction is...

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7 cases
  • Edwardson v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Supreme Court
    • March 1, 1951
    ...have demurred and if the facts alleged were not true, issue should have been joined and evidence adduced to prove the facts. Hart v. State, 117 Ala. 183, 23 So. 43; Allen v. State, 162 Ala. 74, 50 So. 279; Sparronberger v. State, 53 Ala. 481, 25 Am.Rep. 643. The motion to quash was the prop......
  • Hill v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • August 19, 1924
    ...to plead, with the burden on the movant. Code 1907, § 7297; Allen v. State, 162 Ala. 74, 50 So. 279, 19 Ann. Cas. 867; Hart v. State, 117 Ala. 183, 23 So. 43; v. State, 17 Ala. App. 555, 86 So. 257; Smith v. State, 13 Ala. App. 399, 69 So. 402. In undertaking to shoulder this burden, the de......
  • Smith v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • June 15, 1915
    ... ... charge was seduction, and the defendant before entering upon ... the trial made a motion to quash the indictment on the ... alleged ground that it was found by the grand jury upon the ... uncorroborated evidence of the female alleged to have been ... seduced. Code, § 7776; Hart v. State, 117 Ala. 183, ... 23 So. 43; Allen v. State, 162 Ala. 74, 50 So. 279, ... 19 Ann.Cas. 867; Holland v. State, 11 Ala.App. 134, ... 66 So. 126 ... [13 ... Ala.App. 403] The state joined issue upon the motion, and it ... was incumbent upon defendant to prove its allegations, ... ...
  • Gore v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • May 24, 1927
    ... ... For this ... purpose it has been held and has been the practice recognized ... by this court and the Supreme Court to permit the examination ... of grand jurors and witnesses testifying before the grand ... jury in the inquiry. Walker v. State, 17 Ala.App ... 555, 86 So. 257; Hart v. State, 117 Ala. 183, 23 So ... 43; Allen v. State, 162 Ala. 74, 50 So. 279, 19 ... Ann.Cas. 867; Smith v. State, 13 Ala.App. 399, 69 ... The ... remaining question to be determined upon this inquiry is: Can ... the proof necessary to support the defendant's allegation ... of "no ... ...
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