Spears v. Forrest
Supreme Court of Vermont
This was a complaint for bastardy, carried on against the defendant by the overseers of the poor of the town of Guilford, under the statute — the said overseers having undertaken to control and manage said suit, and signed a certificate agreeably to the 13th section of the statute, to indemnify the complainant from the cost of said suit, and the support of the bastard child.
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This was a complaint for bastardy, carried on against the defendant by the overseers of the poor of the town of Guilford, under the statute — the said overseers having undertaken to control and manage said suit, and signed a certificate agreeably to the 13th section of the statute, to indemnify the complainant from the cost of said suit, and the support of the bastard child. On the trial, one of the overseers was offered as a witness for the prosecution, was objected to by the respondent, and was admitted by the court. The respondent offered to prove that the said Esther, the mother of the…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Bennett, J.
We think no objection can be raised as to the competency of the overseers of the poor of Guilford as witnesses, which would not apply to other inhabitants of the town. If they have an interest, it is but a corporate one; and such an objection is removed by statute.
The evidence of common prostitution is not admissible to impeach the character of Esther .Spears, as a witness. After two direct decisions upon this very point in our own courts, founded, as I think they are, upon authority, the question cannot be considered, with us, as an open…
2Cited by12 opinions
- Fletcher v. StateIndiana Supreme Court · 1874
- State v. LarkinNevada Supreme Court · 1876
- Nugent v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1850
- State v. StimpsonSupreme Court of Vermont · 1905
- People v. MillsMichigan Supreme Court · 1893
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