State v. Horn
Supreme Court of Vermont
Indictment for bigamy. Plea not guilty. Trial by jury, December term, 1869, Barrett, J., presiding. The government gave evidence to the effect that the respondent was regularly married January 17th, 1869, in Chester, Vermont, to Miss Julia A. Miller of that town ; that in April, 1869, a woman came to Chester claiming to be his wife by a previous marriage solemnized in Scranton, Pennsylvania ; that the respondent was thereupon arrested upon the complaint of the town grand…
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Indictment for bigamy. Plea not guilty. Trial by jury, December term, 1869, Barrett, J., presiding. The government gave evidence to the effect that the respondent was regularly married January 17th, 1869, in Chester, Vermont, to Miss Julia A. Miller of that town ; that in April, 1869, a woman came to Chester claiming to be his wife by a previous marriage solemnized in Scranton, Pennsylvania ; that the respondent was thereupon arrested upon the complaint of the town grand juror of Chester, and brought before a justice of the peace, who had issued a warrant in pursuance of said complaint, which…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Peck, J.
The paper pui-porting to be a marriage certificate of a marriage in the State of Pennsylvania, admitted against the objection of the respondent, was incompetent evidence and ought to have been excluded. It did not prove itself. Aside from the certificate there was no evidence that there was any such man as Benjamin Jay who was a justice of the peace, or that by the laws of Pennsylvania a justice of the peace has authority to solemnize marriages. The case states that the presiding judge stated to the jury, in his charge, that of his own…
2Cited by5 opinions
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- Lauderdale Peerage ClaimNew York Supreme Court · 1885