State v. Crawley
| Decision Date | 09 April 1889 |
| Citation | 103 N.C. 353,9 S.E. 409 |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | State v. Crawley. |
Criminal Trespass—Evidence.
On indictment under Code N. C. § 1120, for going or entering on land after being forbidden, and without a license, defendant may show that he went on the land in good faith claiming to have or having title thereto; but such defense will not avail unless he show reasonable ground for a belief that his claim was well founded.
Appeal from superior court, Burkecounty; Armfield, Judge.
S. J. Ervin, for defendant. The Attorney General, for the State.
The defendant was arrested upon a criminal warrant, and convicted before a justice of the peace of the offense of having unlawfully and willfully entered upon the land of the prosecutrix after having been forbidden by her so to do, and without a license, in violation of the statute. Code, § 1120. Thereupon he appealed to the superior court, and there pleaded formally not guilty. There was a verdict of guilty, and judgment thereupon against him, and he appealed. On the trial the evidence produced by the state tended strongly to prove the defendant guilty. He "claimed to enter under a bona fide claim of right and title, and offered to show title in the land in himself, which the court excluded;" and, among other things, the court said to the jury: "That even if there was a parol license [which prosecutrix denied] it could be revoked, and defendant could not justify under it, and, after being forbidden, if the defendant had entered inside of the field of the prosecutrix that she had held in actual possession and cultivation for thirteen years or more, and committed the acts testified to, he would be guilty; that if defendant had a bona fide claim of title he was put to his civil action to assert it, and could not justify an attempt to assert it in this way." This is assigned as error. If this were a prosecution for forcible entry, or forcible trespass on land, in that case the question of force, without regard to the claim of right or title to the land by the defendant, would become material, and it might be that the evidence produced on the trial would warrant a verdict of guilty. But the defendant is charged with a very different offense, —that of simply going or entering upon the land of the prosecutrix after she had forbidden him, and without a license so to do, in violation of the statute, (Code, § 1120,) which makes such act a misdemeanor. Just after the close of the late civil war it became...
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State v. Avent, 654
...the jury to acquit all defendants. State v. Clyburn, supra; State v. Fisher, 109 N.C. 817, 13 S.E. 878. This Court said in State v. Crawley, 103 N.C. 353, 9 S.E. 409, which was a criminal action for entry upon land after being forbidden: 'A mere belief on his part that he had such claim wou......
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State v. Baker
... ... belief. State v. Faggart, supra; State v. Wells, supra; ... State v. Durham, 121 N.C. 546, 28 S.E. 22; State ... v. Calloway, 119 N.C. 864, 26 S.E. 46; State v. Glenn, ... supra; State v. [231 N.C. 141] Fisher, 109 ... N.C. 817, 13 S.E. 878; State v. Crawley, 103 N.C ... 353, 9 S.E. 409; State v. Lawson, 101 N.C. 717, 7 ... S.E. 905, 9 Am.St.Rep. 42; State v. Winslow, 95 N.C ... 649; State v. Bryson, 81 N.C. 595; State v ... Crosset, 81 N.C. 579; State v. Hause, 71 N.C ... 518; State v. Whitehurst, 70 N.C. 85; State v ... Ellen, 68 N.C. 281; ... ...
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State v. Boyce
...soon after the late civil war, to prevent and suppress a very common public grievance then prevailing, which is pointed out in State v. Crawley, 103 N.C. 353, 9 S. E. Rep. 409. An essential quality of the offense so prescribed is that it shall be committed by some person other than the owne......
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State v. Durham
... ... believed he had a right to enter, for, if so, the statute ... would be a nullity, and incapable of enforcement; but he must ... show that he had reasonable ground for such belief. State ... v. Glenn, 118 N.C. 1194, 23 S.E. 1004; State v ... Bryson, 81 N.C. 595; State v. Crawley, 103 N.C. 353, 9 ... S.E. 409. If there is no evidence, in that status of the ... case, to show reasonable ground for such belief, the judge ... should instruct the jury that, if they believe the evidence, ... the defendant is guilty. State v. Fisher, 109 N.C ... 817, 13 S.E. 878; State v ... ...