Scott v. Commonwealth
| Decision Date | 25 January 1883 |
| Parties | SCOTT v. THE COMMONWEALTH. |
| Court | Virginia Supreme Court |
Error to judgment of the judge of the circuit court of Culpeper county, in vacation, refusing the application of William H Scott for a writ of error to a judgment of the county court of said county rendered 16th May, 1882, imposing on him a fine of $75 and costs on an indictment for a misdemeanor. Opinion states the facts.
Barbour & Jeffries, for the appellant.
Attorney-General F. S. Blair, for the commonwealth.
A transcript of the record in this case certifies to this court that the said Scott was, at the March term, 1882, of the county court of Culpeper county, indicted for unlawful, lewd and lascivious associating and cohabiting with one Retta Jackson; the said William H. Scott and Retta Jackson not being married to each other--against the peace and dignity of the commonwealth of Virginia; that at the May term, 1882, the said defendant, Scott, moved the said court to quash the indictment, which motion was overruled by the court. Thereupon the said defendant, Scott, demurred generally to the indictment, which said demurrer was overruled by the court. Whereupon the said defendant, Scott, pleaded not guilty to the indictment, and a jury, sworn to try the issue of not guilty, returned a verdict of guilty against the said defendant, Scott, and fixed his fine at seventy-five dollars. Whereupon the said defendant, Scott, moved the court to set aside the verdict of the jury and grant him a new trial on the ground that the verdict of the jury was contrary to the law and evidence, which motion the court overruled, and entered judgment that the commonwealth of Virginia recover of the defendant, Scott, the sum of seventy-five dollars, amount of fine assessed by the jury, and the costs in this behalf expended.
An application for a writ of error and supersedeas to said judgment was presented to the judge of the circuit court of Culpeper county, in vacation, and was refused. It is here now for review upon a writ of error and supersedeas by this court.
It is urged by the plaintiff in error, Scott, that " the indictment is wholly insufficient, illegal and defective, and even fails to set forth any offence made penal by the laws of Virginia." The indictment is for a statutory offence, and it follows the language of the statute, and is, we think, sufficiently full and precise. Code of Virginia, 1873, section 7, chapter 192.
The second assignment of error is, that the indictment was against Scott separately, and not against Scott and the woman (Jackson) jointly. We do not think that this is error. Under the said seventh section of chapter 192 of the Code of Virginia, 1873, page 1208, a separate indictment is...
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