State v. Smith
Supreme Court of North Carolina
CRIMINAL ACTION for removing crop, tried at Fall Term,. 1889, of Harnett Superior Court, Armfield, J., presiding. The indictment charges that the defendant, “in the county of,” &c., “ on the first day of,” &c., “ did, by a certain agreement, rent from one H. C. Avera certain land there situate, for agricultural purposes, and during the term of his said renting did raise certain crops on said land; and that the said J. D. Smith afterwards, to-wit, on the 27th day of November,…
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CRIMINAL ACTION for removing crop, tried at Fall Term,. 1889, of Harnett Superior Court, Armfield, J., presiding. The indictment charges that the defendant, “in the county of,” &c., “ on the first day of,” &c., “ did, by a certain agreement, rent from one H. C. Avera certain land there situate, for agricultural purposes, and during the term of his said renting did raise certain crops on said land; and that the said J. D. Smith afterwards, to-wit, on the 27th day of November, A. D. 1888, in said county, unlawfully and wil-fully did remove from said land a part of the crop of cotton and fifty…
1DissentDavis, J.
Every essential fact constituting the offence must be set forth in the indictment with plainness and reasonable certainty and by direct averment, and not inferentially, or by implication. Statutes creating offences must be construed strictly and nothing essential can be omitted; as for instance, an indictment under the statute for stealing figs, which omits to charge that they were “cultivated for food or market,” is fatally defective, and will not be cured by verdict. State v. Liles, 78 N. C., 496. It is not sufficient to prove that they were “cultivated for food or market.” It must be…
2Cases cited8 opinions
- State v. . LilesSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1878
- State v. . StameySupreme Court of North Carolina · 1874
- State v. . LanierSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1883
- State v. . MerrittSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1883
- State v. . PowellSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1886
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