State v. Smith

• Decision Date: 01 January 1869
• Citation: 32 Tex. 167
• Parties: THE STATE v. J. P. SMITH AND ANOTHER.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

32 Tex. 167

THE STATE

v.J. P. SMITH AND ANOTHER.

Supreme Court of Texas.

1869.

1.Fornication is not a punishable offense under the laws of this state.The case of The State v. Foster, 31 Tex. 578, to the same effect, cited and relied on.

APPEAL from Smith.

The indictment charged Joseph P. Smith and Mary Jane Butler with living and cohabiting together in fornication, alleging that they were both unmarried.

The court below quashed the indictment, on exceptions of defendant that it charged no offense against the laws of the state.

W. H. Andrews, Acting Attorney General, for the state.

No brief for the appellees.

LINDSAY, J.

Fornication is charged in this indictment as the offense of these defendants.At the Galveston session (1869) of this court, in the case of The State of Texas v. John Foster, it was decided that the moral offense of fornication, not having been defined in the criminal code, it is not punishable under the law as it now exists.The decision in that settles this case.

The judgment of the court below, quashing the indictment, is affirmed.

Affirmed.

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