State v. Finch
| Citation | 218 N.C. 511,11 S.E.2d 547 |
| Decision Date | 20 November 1940 |
| Docket Number | No. 440.,440. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina |
| Parties | STATE. v. FINCH et al. |
Appeal from Superior Court, Wake County; R. Hunt Parker, Judge.
J. N. Finch and another were convicted of keeping and operating slot machines in violation of law, and named defendant appeals.
Reversed.
W. Brantley Womble, of Raleigh, for appellant.
Harry McMullan, Atty. Gen., and T. W. Bruton and G. B. Patton, Asst. Attys. Gen., for the State.
The defendant Finch, along with one P. W. Cooper, by and with the consent of his counsel, plead guilty to the first count in a two count bill of indictment charging (1) a violation of Section 1, Chapter 196, Public Laws 1937, N.C. Code of 1939 (Michie) § 4437(r), by owning and possessing a certain slot machine for the purpose of operation in a building under his control upon which the operator or user thereof had a chance to make various scores upon the outcome of which wagers might be made, and (2) of keeping and possessing a certain slot machine upon which the tax levied by the State had not been paid and upon which license was not properly exhibited as required by Section 130, Chapter 158, Public Laws 1939, N.C. Code of 1939 (Michie) § 7880(61). The court pronounced judgment that the defendant Finch be imprisoned for a term of 12 months, and from said judgment the defendant Finch appealed.
An examination of the bill of indictment reveals the fact that the name of the appellant Finch does not appear therein, and of the record that there was no waiver of a bill of indictment by him as provided by C.S. § 4610. It is true the envelope in which the indictment was placed containedthe name of the appellant, and that his name was placed on the dockets prepared for the judge, the solicitor and the clerk, along with the names of P. W. Cooper and the Vending Machine Company, and that the appellant was fully informed of the charge against him.
The appellant assigns as error the pronouncing of judgment upon him, and in this court moves in arrest of judgment. We are of the opinion, and so hold, that the motion should be allowed.
"The indictment must show on its face, that it has been found by competent authority, in accordance with the requirements of law; and that a particular person mentioned therein, has done within the jurisdiction of the indictors, such and such specific acts, at a specific time, which acts, so done, constitute what the Court can see, as a question of law, to be a crime." State v....
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State v. Hammonds
...in any case where the defendant was not clearly and positively charged with the commission of the purported offense. State v. Finch, 218 N.C. 511, 11 S.E.2d 547. In the case of State v. McCollum, supra [181 N.C. 584, 107 S.E. 309], the indictment contained five separate counts, and the one ......
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State v. Williams, 70A81
...it named Linda Massey as the person charged with armed robbery. State v. Hammonds, 241 N.C. 226, 85 S.E.2d 133 (1954); State v. Finch, 218 N.C. 511, 11 S.E.2d 547 (1940); State v. McCollum, 181 N.C. 584, 107 S.E. 309 (1921); State v. Phelps, 65 N.C. 450 (1871). This failure has no effect on......
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State v. Garcia
...at trial showed the injured was " Frank E. Hatley," there was a material variance warranting a nonsuit); and State v. Finch, 218 N.C. 511, 511-12 11 S.E.2d 547, 547-48 (1940) (holding that where the name of one of the defendants did not appear in the indictment, it was fatally defective as ......
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State v. Johnson
... ... the statute "by any means whatsoever" to be given ... force and effect, there must be stated in the warrant the ... acts and circumstances of the particular charge, so that the ... court can see as a matter of law that a crime is charged, ... State v. Phelps, 65 N.C. 450, State v ... Finch, 218 N.C. 511, 11 S.E.2d 547, and the defendant be ... apprised of the particular offense charged against him, a ... right guaranteed to him by the Constitution of North ... Carolina, Art. I, Sections 11 and 12 ... If the ... warrant had been drawn to cover an offense ... ...