Reeves v. State
| Decision Date | 03 June 1942 |
| Docket Number | No. 22155.,22155. |
| Parties | REEVES v. STATE. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Appeal from McLennan County Court; D. Y. McDaniel, Judge.
Joseph Reeves was convicted of having contributed to the delinquency of a female under the age of 17 years, and he appeals.
Reversed and prosecution ordered dismissed.
Tom H. Kee, of Waco, for appellant.
Spurgeon E. Bell, State's Atty., of Austin, for the State.
Appellant was convicted of the offense of having contributed to the delinquency of a female under the age of seventeen years. His punishment was assessed at confinement in the county jail for a period of 45 days and a fine of $200.
From this judgment of conviction he has appealed to this court.
At the very threshold of this case, we are confronted with a complaint and information which, in our opinion, fail to charge an offense. The prosecution is based upon Art. 534, P.C., Vernon's Ann.P.C. art. 534, which specifies the various ways and means by which an offense may be committed; and unless the accused is charged by complaint with the commission of some of the acts denounced by said article, it fails to charge an offense. The complaint and information, omitting the formal parts, read as follows:
"That Joseph Reeves, in the County of McLennan, and State of Texas, heretofore on or about the 24th day of February, A. D., 1942, did then and there unlawfully contribute to the delinquency of Helen Hanna, a female then and there under the age of seventeen years, against the peace and dignity of the State."
It will be noted that the complaint and information fail to charge appellant with any act which would constitute an offense under the aforesaid article of the statute. It merely charges that Joseph Reeves contributed to the delinquency of a female under the age of seventeen years. It seems to be the well-established rule in this state that an indictment or information must set forth in plain and intelligible words all the essential elements of the offense sought to be charged; the charge must particularize the act complained of so that its identity cannot be mistaken. In support of what we have said, we refer to the following authorities: Moore v. State, 7 Tex.App. 42; Brown v. State, 26 Tex. App. 540, 10 S.W. 112; Jones v. State, 118 Tex.Cr.R. 106, 38 S.W.2d 587; Graham v. State, 139 Tex.Cr.R. 98, 139 S.W.2d 269.
Being of the opinion that the complaint and information are insufficient to charge...
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Fisher v. State
...fatally defective for failure to allege amount of substance delivered so as to reflect punishment involved); Reeves v. State, 144 Tex.Crim. 270, 162 S.W.2d 705 (App.1942) (indictment which did not allege manner and means by which defendant contributed to delinquency of minor failed to charg......
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Hogue v. State
...must set forth in plain and intelligible words all the essential elements of the offense sought to be charged. Reeves v. State, 144 Tex.Crim. 270, 162 S.W.2d 705 (1942). An indictment drawn in the language of the statute creating and defining the offense, as in this case, is ordinarily suff......
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...final, the defendant can plead it in bar to a like prosecution. McElroy v. State, 720 S.W.2d at 492, citing Reeves v. State, 144 Tex.Cr.R. 270, 162 S.W.2d 705 (Tex.Cr.App.1942). In Wilson v. State, 520 S.W.2d 377, 379 (Tex.Cr.App.1975), this Court explained: ... the rule is that an offense ......
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Jackson v. State, 40224
...as to fall short of the requirements of Articles 21.04 and 21.11, Vernon's Ann.C.C.P. We find appellant's reliance on Reeves v. State, 144 Tex.Cr.R. 270, 162 S.W.2d 705 and Anderson v. State, 130 Tex.Cr.R. 352, 94 S.W.2d 749 to be misplaced. 2 This Court has frequently described the languag......