State v. Downing

The defendant, jury trial being waived, was found guilty on a criminal complaint charging him with neglect to support his wife. The case is here on exceptions of the defendant most of which raise the same question of law.

The defense was that as the wife had been guilty of a breach of her marital obligation, her husband was under no duty to support her and was not subject to criminal prosecution for his failure to support.

Section 38 of Chapter 399, General Laws, 1923, provides that: “Every person who shall abandon his wife or children, leaving them in danger of becoming a public charge, or who…