State v. . Deaton
Supreme Court of North Carolina
The defendant was indicted under the 1st section of chapter 209, act of 1869, entitled “ an act to protect married women from the wilful abandonment, or neglect of their husbands,” tried before Cloud, J., at Spring Term, 1811, of Rowan Superior Court. The facts, were that in 1866, the defendant wilfully abandoned his wife, without providing her with adequate support, since which time he has never lived with her, nor in any manner provided for her maintenance.
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The defendant was indicted under the 1st section of chapter 209, act of 1869, entitled “ an act to protect married women from the wilful abandonment, or neglect of their husbands,” tried before Cloud, J., at Spring Term, 1811, of Rowan Superior Court. The facts, were that in 1866, the defendant wilfully abandoned his wife, without providing her with adequate support, since which time he has never lived with her, nor in any manner provided for her maintenance. The defendant’s counsel asked the Court to instruct the j ury, that as the abandonment occurred prior to the ratification of the act of…
1Opinion of the Court
Boyden, 3.
The Court at first, thought that the decision of this case might be put upon the question of jurisdiction alone, and we were disposed to put the decision upon that ground, and thereby save the scandal that must and often does arise by the investigation of such cases in the Superior Courts; but upon a close examination of the wording of the statute, we think this cannot be done, as the act authorizes the infliction of both the fine and imprisonment, and not merely a fine or imprisonment for one month, as prescribed in Article IY, Section 33, of the Constitution.
The words,…
2Cited by3 opinions
- Thornburg v. ThornburgWest Virginia Supreme Court · 1881
- State v. . DunstonSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1878
- State v. BellSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1922