State v. Davis
| Decision Date | 31 October 1879 |
| Citation | 70 Mo. 467 |
| Parties | THE STATE, Appellant, v. DAVIS. |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Appeal from Stoddard Circuit Court--HON. R. P. OWEN, Judge.
REVERSED.
J. L. Smith, Attorney-General, for the State, cited State v. Addcock, 65 Mo. 590; State v. Watson, 65 Mo. 115; State v. Newberry, 43 Mo. 429
The defendant was indicted in the circuit court of Stoddard county, under section 34 of the act concerning crimes and punishments, Wag. Stat., p. 497, which is as follows: “Every husband shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, who, shall without good cause abandon his wife, and fail, neglect, or refuse to maintain and provide for her; or who shall, without good cause, abandon his child or children, under the age of twelve years, born in lawful wedlock, and fail, neglect, or refuse to maintain and provide for such child or children.” There were three counts in the indictment, which, on motion, was quashed, and the State has appealed. The first and second counts charged an abandonment of the wife, but here, the attorney-general only insists upon the sufficiency of the third which, in the language of the statute, charged an abandonment of his child by the defendant.
Generally it is sufficient to charge an offense in the language of the act defining it. If the act does not specifically define the offense, but only prescribes the punishment for committing it, for instance, if an act should declare that any one guilty of larceny should be punished, &c., an indictment merely charging that the accused had committed larceny would be insufficient. If the statute had declared that if any parent should treat his child with cruelty, he should be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, an indictment charging the offense in the language of the statute would be insufficient, because there are divers ways of treating a child with cruelty, and the general terms, would not import the specific act. So larceny may be committed of many kinds of property, and the specific acts relied upon as constituting the offense in a given case, must be alleged in the indictment. The abandonment of a child is a statutory offense, and the language of the statute is sufficient in an indictment, to charge the crime. Abandonment does not mean a mere temporary absence from home, or temporary neglect of parental duty. Bouvier defines abandonment thus: “the act of a husband, or wife, who leaves his or her consort, willfully and with an intention of causing perpetual separation.” Webster defines it...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
The State v. Meysenburg
...rule only applies where all the facts which constitute the offense are set forth in the statute. [State v. Kesslering, 12 Mo. 565; State v. Davis, 70 Mo. 467.] C. J., in Tully v. Commonwealth, 4 Met. 358, observes: "When the statute punishes an offense, by its legal designation, without enu......
-
State v. Meysenburg
...rule only applies where all the facts which constitute the offense are set forth in the statute. State v. Kesslering, 12 Mo. 565; State v. Davis, 70 Mo. 467. Shaw, C. J., in Tully v. Com., 4 Metc. (Mass.) 358, observes: "When the statute punishes an offense by its legal designation, without......
-
State v. Emerson
... ... and each is readily distinguishable from the instant case ... (a) The rule that an indictment in the words of the statute ... is sufficient applies only to cases where the facts ... constituting the offense are set out in the statute ... State v. Hayward, 83 Mo. 304; State v ... Davis, 70 Mo. 467; State v. Barbee, 136 Mo ... 440; State v. Burke, 151 Mo. 136. "The ... indictment must make specific what the statute makes ... general." State v. Burke, 151 Mo. 136. (b) This ... information against Emerson sets forth merely an ... untraversable conclusion of law, namely, that ... ...
-
State v. Miksicek
... ... and are sufficient in form and substance. R. S. 1899, sec ... 10088; State v. Edgen, 181 Mo. 592; State v ... Miller, 190 Mo. 449; State v. Wilkerson, 170 ... Mo. 184; State v. Kreuger, 134 Mo. 274; State v ... Davis, 70 Mo. 467; State v. Kesslering, 12 Mo ... 565; Parks v. State, 159 Ind. 211; State v ... Runzi, 105 Mo.App. 319; Commonwealth v ... Campbell, 22 Pa. S.Ct. 98; Whitlock v ... Campbell, 89 Va. 337; Antle v. State, 6 ... Tex.App. 202; State v. Edmonds, 127 Iowa 333; 30 ... ...