State v. . Gates
Supreme Court of North Carolina
Indictment for Perjury, tried before Womack, ,/., at June Term, 1890, of Durham Superior Court. The bill charged that the defendant “committed perjury upon the trial of a modon in the cause in an action in Durham Superior Court, * -x- * in which said motion it was sought to tax the costs in said action against A. M. Leathers, as prosecutor,” etc.
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Indictment for Perjury, tried before Womack, ,/., at June Term, 1890, of Durham Superior Court. The bill charged that the defendant “committed perjury upon the trial of a modon in the cause in an action in Durham Superior Court, * -x- * in which said motion it was sought to tax the costs in said action against A. M. Leathers, as prosecutor,” etc. It was shown that the bill of indictment upon which Leathers was sought to be charged, as prosecutor, had been ignored by the grand jury. There was a verdict of “guilty,” and from the judgment pronounced thereon he appealed.
1Opinion of the Court
Clark, J.:
In order to constitute perjury, the false swearing must be in a matter material to the issue. When, therefore, the Court has no jurisdiction of the subject-matter in the investigation of which the false swearing is alleged to have taken place, there could be no issue, in contemplation of law, and the false swearing is not perjury. In the present case the perjury is alleged to have been committed in the trial of a motion to mark and tax one Leathers with the costs in a criminal action, in which the grand jury had ignored the bill. The authority of the Court to tax prosecutors with…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Collins v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1885
- State v. . HortonSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1883
3Cited by21 opinions
- State v. FreemanSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1985
- West v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · 1919
- Bennett v. District Court of Tulsa Co.Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma · 1945
- State v. VinesSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1986
- State v. . FlowersSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1891
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