Thornton v. State
Supreme Court of Georgia
Accessory before the fact to murder, from Greene county. Decided by Hardeman, March Term, 1858. Thornton, a slave, was indicted as accessory before the the'fact to the crime of murder, in abetting and procuring a negro slave, John, to commit the murder.
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Accessory before the fact to murder, from Greene county. Decided by Hardeman, March Term, 1858. Thornton, a slave, was indicted as accessory before the the'fact to the crime of murder, in abetting and procuring a negro slave, John, to commit the murder. Upon his arraignment, and before pleading to the indictment, Thornton and his master, Robert C. Daniel, demurred and excepted to the same, on the grounds that there was no offence set forth and charged in the said indictment,of which the accused could he prosecuted, corrected or punished, and that the offence, of accessory before the fact,…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court.
Benning, J.
delivering the opinion.
Is the offence of being an accessary before the fact in murder, one that can he committed by a stoe? If it is, is the punishment death?
In 1821, the Legislature declared, that “murder of a free white person,” “when committed by a slave,” should be a capital offence. Cobb Dig. 995.
Does the offence of murder, as here declared, include the offence of being an accessary before the fact iu murder ? If it does, both questions are to be answered in the affirmative. *303The Legislature, doubtless, meant by “ murder,” what was murder by the law, as the law…
2Cited by3 opinions
- Cantrell v. StateSupreme Court of Georgia · 1913
- Groves v. StateSupreme Court of Georgia · 1886
- Groves v. StateSupreme Court of Georgia · 1886