Kennard v. State

John Kennard was presented, indicted, tried and convicted of bastardy in the Circuit Court for Harford County. From the judgment on that verdict he took this appeal. The proceeding originated in a presentment by the grand jury, and the defendant at the trial moved to quash the indictment in the ground that there had been no preliminary proceedings before a justice of the peace under the provisions of Code, art. 12. But where proceedings involving a charge of bastardy are not begun until after the birth of the child, they may be begun either by the accusation of the mother before a justice of…