State v. Lynch
| Decision Date | 21 June 1895 |
| Citation | 83 Me. 195,33 A. 978 |
| Parties | STATE v. LYNCH. |
| Court | Maine Supreme Court |
(Official.)
Exceptions from supreme judicial court, Knox county.
Charles Lynch was indicted for assault with a deadly weapon, and demurred. The demurrer was overruled, and he excepted. Exceptions overruled.
B. K. Kalloch, Co. Atty., for the State.
William H. Fogler, A. A. Beaton, and R. R. Ulmer, for defendant.
The respondent demurred generally to an indictment in which the offense is set out as follows: "That Charles Lynch of Vinal Haven in the county of Knox on the twenty-fifth day of November now last past with force and arms at Vinal Haven aforesaid in the county of Knox aforesaid in and upon one Daniel A. McRae in the peace of the State then and there being to-wit at his post of duty in the engine room of the steamer Governor Bodwell then and there being in the body of the county of Knox aforesaid making a landing at the wharf in Vinal Haven aforesaid in the county of Knox aforesaid upon the said Daniel A. McRae with a deadly weapon, to-wit a loaded revolver in his right hand he the said Charles Lynch then and there had and held did make an assault with an intention him the said Daniel A. McRae then and there with the loaded revolver aforesaid feloniously wilfully and of his malice aforethought to kill and murder against the peace of said state and contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided."
This is an exact copy, including punctuation, of so much of the indictment as is quoted. The demurrer was overruled, and exceptions taken.
The language of the indictment is somewhat confused, and there are unnecessary allegations, but the question is whether the accusation is set forth with sufficient particularity and certainty to inform the accused of the offense with which he is charged, and to enable the court to see, without going out of the record, what crime has been committed, if the facts alleged are true.
It is also necessary that the indictment should employ "so many of the substantial words of the statute as will enable the court to see on what one it is framed; and, beyond this, it must use all the other words which are essential to a complete description of the offense; or, if the pleader chooses, words which are their equivalents in meaning; or, if again he chooses, words which are more than their equivalents, provided they include the full significations of the statutory words, not otherwise." 1 Bish. Cr. Proc. § 612.
In State v. Hussey, 60 Me. 410, it is said: "An indictment should charge an offense in the words of the statute, or in language equivalent thereto." In that case the language used was not equivalent to the statutory words, nor did it have a broader meaning, including the significations of the words of the statute.
...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
People v. Aranda
...or deadly' are used disjunctively and are not equivalents. (See People v. Seawright, 72 Cal.App. 414, 419, 237 P. 796; State v. Lynch, 88 Me. 195, 197-198, 33 A. 978, 979.) Thus, it is not necessary to show that the weapon is deadly so long as it can be shown that it is dangerous. (People v......
-
State v. Mann
...charged. See Moody v. Lovell, 1950, 145 Me. 328, 75 A.2d 795; State v. Thibodeau, 1976, Me., 353 A.2d 595. As stated in State v. Lynch, 1895, 88 Me. 195, 33 A. 978, the statutory word 'armed' means furnished or equipped with weapons of offense or defense. Id. 198, 33 A. 978. In State v. Far......
-
State v. Ward
...upon it, in bar of a subsequent prosecution for the same offense. State v. Snowman, 94 Me. 99, 46 A. 815, 50 L.R.A. 544; State v. Lynch, 88 Me. 195, 33 A. 978; State v. Bushey, 96 Me. 151, 51 A. 872; State v. Doran, 99 Me. 329, 59 A. In State v. Lashus, 79 Me. 541, 542, 11 A. 604, 605, our ......
-
Duncan v. State
...supra, 145 Me. at p. 324, 75 A.2d at p. 543, an escape case, we quoted with approval the following: 'As said in State v. Lynch, 88 Me. 195, at pages 196-197, 33 A. 978: 'It is also necessary that the indictment should employ 'so many of the substantial words of the statute as will enable th......