Commonwealth v. Williams
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Complaint to a trial justice under the St. of 1862, c. 160,* alleging that the defendant “ unlawfully and maliciously did deface, injure and mar a certain building, to wit, Lovell’s Hall, so called, the property of Isaac Lovell, by defacing the floor of said building with filthy matter.”
Read the full summary
Complaint to a trial justice under the St. of 1862, c. 160,* alleging that the defendant “ unlawfully and maliciously did deface, injure and mar a certain building, to wit, Lovell’s Hall, so called, the property of Isaac Lovell, by defacing the floor of said building with filthy matter.” At the trial on appeal, in the Superior Court, before Dewey, J., there was evidence “ that there were notices in the hall forbidding any person to spit tobacco juice on the floor; that there were no spittoons in the hall; that the defendant said, when told of objection to spitting on the floor of the hall,…
1Opinion of the CourtColt, J.
Malicious mischief or damage amounting to a crime is defined by Blackstone to be an injury done “ either out of a spirit of wanton cruelty, or black and diabolical revenge.” 4 Bl. Com. 244. This definition was approved and adopted in Commonwealth v. Walden, 3 Cush. 558, 561. The defendant was there indicted for wilfully and maliciously destroying the personal property of another, and it was held that the word maliciously, as used in the statutes relating to malicious mischief, was not sufficiently defined as the wilful doing of any act prohibited by law for which the defendant has no lawful…
2Cited by39 opinions
- Commonwealth v. PeruzziMassachusetts Appeals Court · 1983
- State v. . KnottsSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1914
- Anderson v. . HowNew York Court of Appeals · 1889
- Crebithrift of America v. Auvenshine (In Re Auvenshine)United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Michigan · 1981
- State v. LightfootSupreme Court of Iowa · 1899
34 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.