State v. Robbins
| Decision Date | 31 December 1845 |
| Citation | 6 Ired. 23,28 N.C. 23,44 Am.Dec. 64 |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | THE STATE v. JOEL ROBBINS. |
It is not necessary to the validity of a marriage, that the parties should have obtained a license from the Clerk of the County Court. The omission of the license only subjects the minister or justice performing the ceremony to a penalty.
It is sufficient proof of a marriage, that the ceremony was performed by one, who was in the known enjoyment of the office of a justice of the peace, and notoriously acting as such. It is not necessary to produce his commission from the Governor.
The case of Gilliam v. Reddick, 5 Ired. 370, cited and approved.
Appeal from the Superior Court of Law of Randolph County, at the Fall Term, 1845, his Honor Judge DICK presiding.
The prisoner was indicted for Bigamy in marrying Elizabeth Robbins, a wife, to whom he had been some years before married, being still alive. To show the previous marriage, a witness proved that he was present, some thirty years before that time, when the defendant was married to his daughter Elizabeth Williams, by one Michael Harvey, and that she, the said Elizabeth, was still alive; that the parties lived together for several years, when they separated, and the wife returned to her father's house. The defendant, Robbins, had obtained no license from the Clerk of the County Court, for his marriage with Elizabeth Williams. It was further proved that Michael Harvey, for several years before the marriage of the defendant with Elizabeth Williams, and for many years thereafter, was an acting Justice of the Peace for Randolph County, and was known and acted as such, and the records of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of that County proved that, five years before the marriage, he had, in open Court, taken the oaths of office as a magistrate. It was then proved by persons who were present, that the defendant was married to Elizabeth Robbins in Randolph County, in the year 1832, and that the ceremony was performed by one James Hodgins, who, it was proved, was an acting Justice of the Peace of Randolph County at the time he performed the ceremony. The defendant offered evidence to show that he acted in ignorance of the law, and that he was advised by several persons, that his marriage with Elizabeth Williams was void for the want of the Clerk's license. This testimony was rejected. He further contended that there was no legal evidence to shew, that either Michael Harvey or James Hodgins was a Justice of the Peace for Randolph County, at the time they respectively performed the ceremony; that the only evidence which could be received of the fact was the Governor's commission.
The Court charged the jury, if they believed the testimony, the defendant was guilty. He was convicted and appealed.
Attorney General, for the State .
No Counsel for the defendant.
We see no error committed by the presiding Judge. The testimony tendered by the defendant, to show that he thought and believed his first marriage to be void for the want of a license, was properly rejected by the Court. The law of this State, Rev. Stat. ch. 71, sec. 2d, authorises and impowers the Clerks of the several County Courts to grant marriage licenses, upon the applicant's giving bond and security agreeably to its provisions; but if a marriage is solemnized by a minister of the gospel or a magistrate, without a license, though he may subject himself to a penalty, the marriage is, notwithstanding, good to every intent and purpose. There can be no doubt, then, that the marriage between the defendant and Elizabeth Williams was legal and valid, although no license had been obtained from the Clerk.--It is a well settled principle that ignorance of...
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State v. Williams
... ... This ... Court has held that a bona fide belief in the invalidity of a ... first marriage is not a defense to a prosecution for bigamy ... when in fact the marriage was valid and subsisting. State ... v. Robbins, 28 N.C. 23, 44 Am.Dec. 64, supra. There ... seems to be no reason why a defendant's belief that a ... former marriage has been dissolved when in fact it has not ... been under the laws of this State should be any more ... efficacious as a defense. It is submitted, therefore, that ... the ... ...
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State v. Martinez
...at, and the performance of, the ceremony. This was a prima facie showing of authority to perform a marriage ceremony (State v. Robbins, 28 N.C. 23, 44 Am. Dec. 64; Taylor v. State, 52 Miss. 84; Commonwealth Hayden, 163 Mass. 453, 47 Am. St. 468, 40 N.E. 846, 28 L. R. A. 318; State v. Abbey,......
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State v. Lynch
...or presence of a marriage license is of minimal consequence in establishing a valid marriage to support a bigamy prosecution. State v. Robbins, 28 N.C. 23 (1845); see also G.S. 51-6 to -21. The subjective intent of defendant to indeed marry the person alleged to be his first wife is also of......
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In re Estate of Peacock
...solemnized without a marriage license; Maggett v. Roberts, 112 N.C. 71, 16 S.E. 919 ; State v. Parker, 106 N.C. 711, 11 S.E. 517 ; State v. Robbins, 28 N.C. 23, ,—or under an illegal license; Maggett v. Roberts, supra —but it is clear that both these sections of the statute require that the......