City of St. Louis v. Eskridge

I concur with the majority opinion.

The problem of when an exception to a statute or ordinance must be pleaded has plagued the courts for many years. There are innumerable cases in the “criminal” field but few ordinance cases. The general principles are relatively easy to state but, as always, the application to particular facts is extremely difficult. The general principle requiring the informant to plead the negative is. stated as follows:

“Whenever an exception is contained in the section defining an offense, and *653constitutes a part of the description of the offense sought to be charged, the…