Mears v. Commonwealth
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Dauphin county. August 29, 1855, defendant was arraigned, and pleaded “not guilty, et de hoe,” &c., to the following bill of indictment. “ Dauphin county, ss.
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Error to the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Dauphin county. August 29, 1855, defendant was arraigned, and pleaded “not guilty, et de hoe,” &c., to the following bill of indictment. “ Dauphin county, ss. August Sessions, 1855. The grand inquest of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, inquiring for the county of Dauphin, upon their oaths and affirmations, respectively do present, that Samuel Mears, of the county aforesaid, yeoman, on the seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, at the county aforesaid, and within the jurisdiction of this court, in…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court- was delivered May 27, 1858, by '
Porter, J.
— This is a good indictment for an assault and battery, but nothing' more. By the common law, rape is a felony, for it would have cost the vassal the loss of his fee, and that is the test. In every* written legal accusation of the offence, it must be laid as a felony, or not "at all. In charging an intent to commit the crime, the term feloniously is just as indispensable; for when associated with a misdemeanor, the intent will take the hue of the latter act, unless by the proper term it be carried into the grade to which it…
2Cited by9 opinions
- State v. HaywardSupreme Court of Missouri · 1884
- State v. MeysenburgMissouri Court of Appeals · 1902
- Bowler v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1872
- Commonwealth v. KinnerSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1939
- State v. BurkeSupreme Court of Missouri · 1899
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