State v. Cronin

Decision Date28 January 1899
Citation56 P. 26,20 Wash. 512
CourtWashington Supreme Court
PartiesSTATE v. CRONIN.

Appeal from superior court, Thurston county; H. S. Elliott, Judge.

John Cronin was convicted of murder, and appeals. Affirmed.

p>Page John R. Mitchell, Pros. Atty., and Thomas M. Vance, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

Winstock & Israel, for appellant.

FULLERTON J.

The appellant was informed against by the prosecuting attorney of Thurston county for the crime of murder in the first degree the information, with the verification thereto, being as follows (omitting the title):

'Comes now John R. Mitchell, county attorney and prosecuting attorney for Thurston county, state of Washington, and the court being in session, and the grand jury not being in session, gives the court to understand and be informed that one John Cronin is guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree, committed as follows: He, said John Cronin in said county of Thurston, on the 26th day of December 1897, purposely and of his deliberate and premeditated malice killed Antonio Ferarri, by then and there purposely and of his deliberate and premeditated malice shooting and mortally wounding the said Antonio Ferarri, with a pistol which he, the said John Cronin, then and there held in his hand. Dated at Olympia, in said county and state, the 20th day of January, 1898. John R. Mitchell, County Attorney and Prosecuting Attorney for the County of Thurston, Washington.'
'State of Washington, County of Thurston--ss.: John R. Mitchell, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he is the county attorney and prosecuting attorney for the county of Thurston, state of Washington; that he has read the foregoing information, knows the contents thereof, and the same is true as he verily believes. John R. Mitchell.
'Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 20th day of January, 1898. A. L. Callow, County Clerk and Clerk of the Superior Court of Thurston County, Wash.'

After arraignment, the appellant moved to quash the information because of insufficient verification, which motion being overruled, he demurred, alleging as grounds that the information did not state facts sufficient to constitute a crime. The demurrer was also overruled, and on the appellant's plea of not guilty a trial was had, resulting in a verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree. The appellant thereupon moved an arrest of judgment, which, after argument, was overruled, and judgment pronounced upon the verdict of the jury, and the appellant sentenced to the penitentiary for 20 years at hard labor. The appellant in due time excepted to the several orders and judgments of the court, and brings the case here. He assigns that the court erred (1) in refusing to quash the information; (2) in overruling his demurrer; (3) in receiving the verdict returned by the jury; and (4) in overruling his motion in arrest of judgment.

The statute (2 Ballinger's Ann. Codes & St. § 6833; 2 Hill's Code, § 1231) prescribes that 'all informations shall be verified by the oath of the prosecuting attorney, complainant, or some other person.' It is contended that this statute requires a positive affirmation that the matter stated in the information is true, and is not satisfied by an oath that it is true as the affiant 'verily believes.' An information is a pleading. It is the formal statement on the part of the state of the facts constituting the offense which the defendant is accused of committing; in other words, it is the plain and concise statement of the facts constituting the cause of action. It bears the same relation to a criminal action that a complaint does to a civil action; and, when verified, its object is not to satisfy the court or jury that the defendant is guilty nor is it for the purpose of evidence which is to be weighed and passed upon, but is only to inform the defendant of the precise acts or omissions with which he is accused, the truth of which is to be...

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10 cases
  • McClendon v. Callahan
    • United States
    • Washington Supreme Court
    • June 2, 1955
    ...62 L.Ed. 193; In re Anthony, 198 Wash. 106, 87 P.2d 302; People ex rel. MacSherry v. Enright, 112 Misc. 568, 184 N.Y.S. 248; State v. Cronin, 20 Wash. 512, 56 P. 26; Raftery ex rel. Huie Fong v. Bligh, 1 Cir., 55 F.2d In Pierce v. Creecy, supra [210 U.S. 387, 28 S.Ct. 718], the court said: ......
  • Goodlove v. State
    • United States
    • Ohio Supreme Court
    • June 28, 1910
    ...v. State, 28 Fla. 511; State v. Florenza, 28 La. An., 945; Veatch v. State, 56 Ind. 584; Washington v. Yandell, 34 Wash. 409; State v. Cronin, 20 Wash. 512; Green v. State, 154 Ind. 655; State v. Silk, 145 Mo. 240; State v. Freeman, 1 Spears, 65; State v. Vaughn, 26 Mo. 29 On this question ......
  • Mark v. King Broadcasting Co.
    • United States
    • Washington Court of Appeals
    • September 29, 1980
    ...action being taken. O'Brien v. Tribune Publ. Co., supra. 1 An information is a pleading, but an affidavit is not. State v. Cronin, 20 Wash. 512, 56 P. 26 (1899); Brady v. Yount, 42 Wash.2d 697, 258 P.2d 458 (1953). The distinction is not relevant to the issue here. An information is the ini......
  • State v. Odell
    • United States
    • Washington Supreme Court
    • February 13, 1951
    ...'The allegation that the defendant killed the deceased is certainly in effect an averment that the latter died.' See, also, State v. Cronin, 20 Wash. 512, 56 P. 26; State v. Yandell, 34 Wash. 409, 75 P. 988; People v. Sanford, 43 Cal. 29; State v. Sly, 11 Idaho 110, 80 P. In the case of Sta......
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