Griffith v. State
Supreme Court of Alabama
From the Circuit Court of Madison. Tried before tlie Hon. Henry C. Speake. The indictment in this case was returned into court on the 9th August, 1890, and contained two counts, each charging the defendants, George Griffith, John Bobertson, and Martha Miller, with the murder of two infant children, whose names were to the grand jury unknown; the first count charging that they were murdered “by taking them from the house, and leaving them exposed in the woods, whereby they…
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From the Circuit Court of Madison. Tried before tlie Hon. Henry C. Speake. The indictment in this case was returned into court on the 9th August, 1890, and contained two counts, each charging the defendants, George Griffith, John Bobertson, and Martha Miller, with the murder of two infant children, whose names were to the grand jury unknown; the first count charging that they were murdered “by taking them from the house, and leaving them exposed in the woods, whereby they diedand the second, '“by leaving them in the woods, whereby they died from starvation.” Each count alleged that the names…
1Opinion of the CourtOlopton, J.
The general rule is, that a clerical error, or misspelling, or the omission of letters from a word, does not vitiate an indictment, unless the word is thereby changed into one of different import, or the sense so obscured that a person of ordinary intelligence can not from the context determine with certainty the meaning. — 10 Amer. & Eng. Encyc. of Law, 548. In Grant v. State, 55 Ala. 201, the rule is thus stated: “Before an objection because of false grammar, incorrect spelling, or mere clerical error, is entertained, the court should be satisfied of the tendency of the error to mislead, or…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Douglass v. TouseyNew York Supreme Court · 1829
- Raiford v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1877
- Grant v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1876
- White v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1888
- Hughes v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1883
3Cited by56 opinions
- State ex rel. Attorney General v. TallySupreme Court of Alabama · 1893
- State v. KentNorth Dakota Supreme Court · 1895
- Smith v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1916
- National Park Bank v. L. & N. R. R.Supreme Court of Alabama · 1917
- Louisville N. R. Co. v. ScottSupreme Court of Alabama · 1935
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