State v. Williams
Supreme Court of Missouri
■Appeal from Miller Circuit Court. The defendant 'Williams was indicted at the October term, 1859, of the Miller circuit court for perjury alleged to have been committed by him in delivering his testimony before the grand jury at the October term, 1858, of said court, touching a charge of forgery preferred against one Charles H. Ingram, then undergoing investigation.
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■Appeal from Miller Circuit Court. The defendant 'Williams was indicted at the October term, 1859, of the Miller circuit court for perjury alleged to have been committed by him in delivering his testimony before the grand jury at the October term, 1858, of said court, touching a charge of forgery preferred against one Charles H. Ingram, then undergoing investigation. The matter upon which the perjury was assigned was that Williams falsely and corruptly swore that Charles H. Ingram had falsely counterfeited and forged a promissory note, purporting to have been executed by J. Y. Williams & Co.;…
1Opinion of the CourtScott, Judge
Perjury by our laws is made á felony, though not one at common law. The indictment in this case does not charge that the act of false swearing was done feloniously. It is well settled that in all indictments for a felony the act must be charged to have been done feloniously. The omission of that word in this indictment renders the judgment fatally defective.
The court, and not the jury, must determine whether the fact sworn to was material in the judicial proceeding in which the perjury is alleged to have been committed. The instruction therefore which submitted this question to the jury was…
2Cited by14 opinions
- United States v. GaudinSupreme Court of the United States · 1995
- State v. FaulknerSupreme Court of Missouri · 1903
- Kaelin v. CommonwealthCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1886
- State v. SwisherSupreme Court of Missouri · 1953
- People ex rel. NunnsAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1919
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