State v. . Wells

The essential elements of the offense of which the defendant was convicted are: (1) Seduction, (2) of an innocent and virtuous woman, (3) under promise of marriage. The statute contains the additional proviso that the unsupported testimony of the woman shall not be sufficient to convict. C. S., 4339. S. v. Forbes, ante, 567; S. v. McDade, 208 N. C., 197; S. v. Crook, 189 N. C., 545.

In order to convict, the burden of proof is upon the State to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the seduction was accomplished under and by means of the promise of marriage, and that the prosecutrix was at that…