State v. Smith

Citation1 Tenn.Crim.App. 163,432 S.W.2d 501
PartiesSTATE of Tennessee, Plaintiff in Error, v. Willis SMITH, Defendant in Error.
Decision Date07 June 1968
CourtTennessee Court of Criminal Appeals

George F. McCanless, Atty. Gen., George W. McHenry, J., Asst. Atty. Gen., James R. Omer, Asst. Dist. Atty. Gen., Nashville, for plaintiff in error.

James Havron, Public Defender, Nashville, for defendant in error.

OPINION

OLIVER, Judge.

In this case, the State appeals from the judgment of the Criminal Court of Davidson County sustaining the defendant's motion to quash the following presentment: 'That Willis Smith heretofore, and prior to the finding of this indictment, to-wit, on the _ _ day of June, 1967, with force and arms, in the County aforesaid, unlawfully and feloniously did make an assault upon the bodies of Mrs. Betty Brown and Mrs. Clara Jones, and them the said Mrs. Betty Brown and Mrs. Clara Jones, then and there unlawfully and feloniously put in fear and danger of their life, and then and there unlawfully, feloniously, and violently did steal, take, and carry away from the persons and against the will of the said Mrs. Betty Brown and Mrs. Clara Jones certain property, to-wit: $6,867.00 in good and lawful money of the United States of America of the value of $6,867.00 DOLLARS the property of The Capital City Bank, a corporation, but in the care, custody and control of employees Mrs. Betty Brown and Mrs. Clara Jones, said robbery being accomplished by the use of a deadly weapon, to-wit: a pistol; contrary to the form of the statutes in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Tennessee.'

This presentment was predicated upon T.C.A. § 39--3901. The basis and theory of the defendant's motion to quash this presentment was that the allegation that Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Jones were employees of a bank shows that this was a bank robbery as defined in T.C.A. § 39--3902; and that, inasmuch as the Legislature has enacted this separate statute specifically applicable alone to bank robbery, an indictment or presentment for bank robbery must be laid under T.C.A. § 39--3902 and may not be charged under T.C.A. § 39--3901. Those two statutes are as follows:

T.C.A. § 39--3901. 'Robbery--Penalty.--Robbery is the felonious and forcible taking from the person of another, goods or money of any value, by violence or putting the person in fear. Every person convicted of the crime of robbery shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than five (5) nor more than fifteen (15) years; provided, that if the robbery be accomplished by the use of a deadly weapon the punishment shall be death by electrocution, or the jury may commute the punishment to imprisonment for life or for any period of time not less than ten (10) years.'

T.C.A. § 39--3902. 'Bank robbery--Penalty.--It shall be unlawful for any person to feloniously enter any banking house or place where moneys are kept on deposit and securities of any value deposited for safekeeping and by violence or putting in fear any person therein charged with the custody, care, or keeping of such money or securities of any value, to feloniously take or remove or attempt to take and remove from such banking house any such moneys or securities of any value; and any person so...

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3 cases
  • Francis v. State
    • United States
    • Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals
    • 6 de abril de 1973
    ...law of this State is that a motion to quash an indictment lies only where it is defective or invalid upon its face. State v. Smith, 1 Tenn.Cr.App. 163, 432 S.W.2d 501; Yearwood v. State, 2 Tenn.Cr.App. 552, 455 S.W.2d In Raine v. State, 143 Tenn. 168, 186, 226 S.W. 189, 195, the Court succi......
  • Shadden v. State
    • United States
    • Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals
    • 3 de outubro de 1972
    ...firmly established in this State that a motion to quash an indictment will not lie unless it is invalid upon its face. State v. Smith, 1 Tenn.Crim.App. 163, 432 S.W.2d 501; Yearwood v. State, 2 Tenn.Crim.App. 552, 455 S.W.2d 612. The indictment in this case is altogether regular and no inva......
  • State v. Hudson
    • United States
    • Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals
    • 17 de julho de 1972
    ...the peculiar office of a motion to quash an indictment or presentment is to attack and challenge it for that reason. State v. Smith, 1 Tenn.Cr.App. 163, 432 S.W.2d 501; Smith v. State, 207 Tenn. 219, 338 S.W.2d 610; State v. Davis, 204 Tenn. 553, 322 S.W.2d As stated in each 'bench warrant,......

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