State v. Bagwell

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

Mr. Justice Marion.

The defendant was convicted of a violation of Section 697, Criminal Code, 1912, which provides that an. able-bodied man who, without just cause or excuse, abandons or fails to support his wife, or minor unmarried children, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. He appeals upon the ground that the Circuit Judge committed error of law in denying his motion for a directed verdict of “not guilty.”

There was evidence tending to establish that the defendant was lawfully married to his wife, Mary, in July, 1921; that he took her to his mother’s…