The State v. Burries
| Decision Date | 12 February 1895 |
| Citation | 29 S.W. 842,126 Mo. 565 |
| Parties | The State v. Burries, alias Dusty, Appellant |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Appeal from Buchanan Criminal Court. -- Hon. Silas Woodson, Judge.
The appeal in this case must be determined upon the record proper. Nothing more is brought here or preserved. Appellant filed no bill of exceptions, hence there are none saved. There is no error in the record. The indictment carefully follows the language of the statute creating the offense, and under which it is drawn. R. S. 1889, sec. 3480. The approved form is employed, and all material allegations are set forth. ""State v. Meinhart, 73 Mo. 563; ""State v. Wray, 109 Mo. 597. The crime of rape is one for which the penalty of death may, in the discretion of the jury, be assessed. Sec. 3480, ""supra; Ex parte Dusenberry 97 Mo. 504.
The defendant, whose true name it now appears, was Joseph Burries, was indicted under the provisions of section 3480 Revised Statutes, 1889, for the crime of rape, and upon conviction was sentenced to be hanged, and appeals to this court.
The indictment, omitting caption, is the following: "The grand jurors for the state of Missouri, within and for the body of the county of Buchanan aforesaid, being duly impaneled and sworn, upon their oaths do present that Joseph Dusty, whose true name is unknown, on the thirtieth day of July, 1894, in the county of Buchanan and state aforesaid, in and upon one Bertha Potter, a female child under the age of fourteen years, to wit, of the age of seven years, unlawfully and feloniously did make an assault, and her the said Bertha Potter then and there unlawfully and feloniously did carnally know and abuse, contrary to the form of the statutes in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the state."
Under the provisions of the cited section, the crime in question may be committed "either by carnally and unlawfully knowing any female child under the age of fourteen years, or by forcibly ravishing any woman of the age of fourteen years or upwards," and the extreme penalty for the crime is death.
As the defendant has failed to file a bill of exceptions, we can only examine the record proper. The indictment is sufficient as well as the other proceedings of record, and as those matters...
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