State v. Lewis

Decision Date30 November 1927
Docket Number(No. 482.)
Citation140 S.E. 434
CourtNorth Carolina Supreme Court
PartiesSTATE. v. LEWIS.

Appeal from Superior Court, Cabarrus County; Schenck, Judge.

M. S. Lewis was convicted of unlawfully and willfully failing to send his children to the public school, and he appeals. Error.

Criminal prosecution tried upon a warrant charging that the defendant "on or about the —day of February, 1927, did unlawfully and willfully fail to cause his children, between the ages of 7 and 14 years, to attend public school in Kannapolis, in the district in which said children reside, as required by the statute in such cases made and provided, " etc.

From an adverse verdict and judgment pronounced thereon, the defendant appeals, assigning errors.

H. S. Williams and Z. A. Morris, Jr., both of Concord, for appellant.

D. G. Brummitt, Atty. Gen., and Frank Nash, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

STACY, C. J. The judgment must be arrested on authority of what was said in State v. Johnson, 188 N. C. 591, 125 S. E. 183, for that no crime is charged in the warrant upon which the defendant has been tried and convicted.

It is provided by C. S. § 5758, with certain exemptions not now material, that every parent, guardian, or other person in the state having charge or control of a child between the ages of 8 and 14 years "shall cause such child to attend school continuously for a period equal to the time which the public school in the district in which the child resides shall be in session."

It will be observed that the statute does not make the failure to cause the attendance of a child, between the ages mentioned, in the public school, a crime, but the offense is defined as the failure on the part of the parent, guardian, or other person having control of such child, to cause said child to attend school continuously for a period equal to the time the public school of the district shall be in session. Indeed, it would be an infringement upon the rights of private schools to require that all children of school age shall attend one of the public, schools of the district in which they reside. Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U. S. 510, 45 S. Ct. 571, 69 L. Ed. 1070, 39 A. L. R. 468.

The defect or omission, appearing, asit does, on the face of the record, may be taken advantage of by motion in arrest of judgment. State v. Jenkins, 164 N. C. 527, 80 S. E. 231; State v. Baker, 106 N. C. 758, 11 S. E. 360.

Error.

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5 cases
  • Jones v. Bailey
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • 18 Septiembre 1957
    ... ... 20 Am.Jur., Evidence, section 451, page 400; Teague v. Wilson, 220 N.C.241, 17 S.E.2d 9; Greene v. Carroll, 205 N.C. 459, 171 S.E. 627; State v. Blakeney, 194 N.C. 651, 140 S.E. 433; State v. Lassiter, 191 N.C. 210, 131 S.E. 577; State v. Springs, 184 N.C. 768, 114 S.E. 851; Chandler v ... ...
  • State v. Grace, (No. 445.)
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • 21 Noviembre 1928
    ...only for some error or defect appearing on the face of the record. State v. McKnight, 196 N. C. 259, 145 S. E. 281; State v. Lewis, 194 N. C. 620, 140 S. E. 434. But the defendant in a criminal action may raise the question of a variance between the indictment and the proof by a motion to d......
  • State v. Tarlton, 506.
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • 20 Noviembre 1935
    ...of the offense is fatal; nor has the court below power or authority after verdict to allow the amendment to be made. In State v. Lewis, 194 N. C. 620, 621, 140 S. E. 434, it is said: "The defect or omission, appearing, as it does, on the face of the record, may be taken advantage of by moti......
  • State v. Mcknight
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • 14 Noviembre 1928
    ...may be arrested, on motion duly made, when, and only when, some fatal error or defect appears on the face of the record. State v. Lewis, 194 N. C. 620, 140 S. E. 434; State v. Mitchem, 188 N. C. 608, 125 S. E. 190; State v. Efird, 186 N. C. 482, 119 S. E. 881; State v. Jenkins, 164 N. C 527......
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