Lantz v. Lutz
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
In error from the Common Pleas of Lebanon county. Case for an escape. The plaintiff was the mother of a bastard begotten by the defendant, against whom she made complaint to a justice for fornication and bastardy. The justice issued a warrant, and the defendant was arrested, but subsequently escaped from the constable. There was evidence that the defendant was able to pay the ordinary sentence of the court in such cases.
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In error from the Common Pleas of Lebanon county. Case for an escape. The plaintiff was the mother of a bastard begotten by the defendant, against whom she made complaint to a justice for fornication and bastardy. The justice issued a warrant, and the defendant was arrested, but subsequently escaped from the constable. There was evidence that the defendant was able to pay the ordinary sentence of the court in such cases. The court (Eldred, P. J.) told the jury, that the plaintiff was entitled to recover the damages she had sustained, and that the act of 1772 did not apply to the case. The…
1Opinion of the CourtGibson, C. J.
The act of 1819, which allows the attorney-general to enter a nolle prosequi on an indictment of fornication and bastardy, pursuant to an agreement of compromise between the prosecutrix and the defendant, seems to recognise a private right in her to compensation for the keeping of the child, to be enforced by the sentence. That this statute has modified the nature of the proceeding against him, was held in Maurer v. Mitchell, 9 W. &. S., 69, in which such an agreement was deemed to be legal and a ground of action. It may be taken for granted, therefore, as it was in the court below, that an…
2Cited by6 opinions
- Commonwealth ex rel. John T. Baldwin & Co. v. YeisleySuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1898
- Smith v. HoughwotSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1938
- Pollock v. IngramSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1898
- Costopoulos v. Gibboney, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Perry County1988
- Finkbeiner v. Chidsey, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Northampton County1942
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