Kanavan's Case
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
Kanavan was indicted for that he counselled and advised M. E., then pregnant with a bastard child, to bring it forth alone and in secret; which child afterwards, by reason of the advice and procurement of the defendant, was born of said M. alone and in secret, and afterwards was found dead, concealed in the Ken-nebec river.
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Kanavan was indicted for that he counselled and advised M. E., then pregnant with a bastard child, to bring it forth alone and in secret; which child afterwards, by reason of the advice and procurement of the defendant, was born of said M. alone and in secret, and afterwards was found dead, concealed in the Ken-nebec river. The second count stated that the defendant unlawfully and indecently took the body of said child from said M. and threw it into the river, against common decency, &c. The defendant being convicted on the second count, a motion was made in arrest of judgment, on the ground…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court.
We have no doubt upon this subject, and do not hesitate a moment to pronounce the indictment to be good and sufficient, and that there must be sentence against the prisoner.
Emmons, for the prisoner.
From our childhood we all have been accustomed to pay a reverential respect to the sepulchres of our fathers, and to attach a character of sacredness to the grounds dedicated and inclosed as the cemeteries of the dead. Hence, before the late statute of Massachusetts was enac ted, it was an offence at common law to dig up the bodies of those who had been buried, for the purpose of…
2Cited by4 opinions
- Baker v. StateSupreme Court of Arkansas · 1949
- Davis v. StateCourt of Appeals of Georgia · 1939
- Brambir v. Cunard White Star LimitedDistrict Court, S.D. New York · 1940
- Wehle v. United States Mut. Acc. Ass'nThe Superior Court of the City of New York and Buffalo · 1895