State v. Stout

The indictment, among other things, states or charges that this prosecution is commenced on the complaint “of the wife of the defendant.” It is provided by statute that “no prosecution for adultery can be commenced but on the complaint of the husband or wife,” (Code, § 4008,) and the only question we are called on to determine is whether this prosecution is so commenced.

In Bush v. Workman, 64 Iowa, 205, it was said that the statute is plain, easily understood, and that it forbids prosecutions for adultery except when the same are commenced on the complaint of the husband or wife.

In State v.…