Brightwell v. State
Supreme Court of Georgia
Arson. Arrest of Judgment. Before Judge Harrell. Webster Superior Court. September Term, 1870. Lydia Brightwell was tried for arson in said Court, upon an indictment which charged her with burning an out-house “on the 17th of May,” 1870, without stating whether she did so in the day time or night. The jury returned a verdict of “guilty.”
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Arson. Arrest of Judgment. Before Judge Harrell. Webster Superior Court. September Term, 1870. Lydia Brightwell was tried for arson in said Court, upon an indictment which charged her with burning an out-house “on the 17th of May,” 1870, without stating whether she did so in the day time or night. The jury returned a verdict of “guilty.” Her counsel moved to arrest the judgment because the indictment did not show, nor did the verdict find, whether the burning was in the day time or in the night. The court overruled the motion, and that is assigned as error.
1Opinion of the CourtMcCAY, J.
When the law prescribes a different punishment for different phases of the same crime, there is good reason for requiring the indictment to specify which of the phases the prisoner is charged with. The record ought to show that the defendant is convicted of the offense for which he is sentenced. But this is not the case here. The punishment for ‘ arson of an outhouse, not in a city or town, is from two to seven years: Revised Code, section 4313. There is no provision that arson in the night shall be punished for any different period.
It is true section 4318 of the Code provides that “arson in…
2Cited by4 opinions
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- Wright v. StateCourt of Appeals of Georgia · 1966
- Apprendi v. New JerseySupreme Court of the United States · 2000
- Wright v. StateCourt of Appeals of Georgia · 1966