Commonwealth v. Butts
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Indictment, on the Gen. Sts. e. 161, § 18,* charging the defendant with the larceny, on January 20,1877, of “divers promissory notes of the amount and of the value in all of five thousand dollars, a more particular description of which is to the jurors unknown, of the property, goods and chattels of one Judson N. Farrar, in his possession then and there being.”
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Indictment, on the Gen. Sts. e. 161, § 18,* charging the defendant with the larceny, on January 20,1877, of “divers promissory notes of the amount and of the value in all of five thousand dollars, a more particular description of which is to the jurors unknown, of the property, goods and chattels of one Judson N. Farrar, in his possession then and there being.” In the Superior Court, before the jury were empanelled, the defendant filed a motion to quash the indictment, assigning the following reasons therefor: “1. Because there is no allegation therein as to the number of promissory notes, or…
1Opinion of the CourtSottle, J.
The motion to quash the indictment was properly denied. Where all the articles alleged to have been stolen are hi one kind, the allegation may be “ divers,” “ divers and sundry,” or “ a quantity,” without stating any specific number, with an averment of the aggregate value of the whole. Commonwealth v. Sawtelle, 11 Cush. 142. Commonwealth v. O'Connell, 12 Allen, 451. Commonwealth v. Hussey, 111 Mass. 432. Commonwealth v. Green, 122 Mass. 333. An offence was therefore charged in the indictment with sufficient definiteness.
There was no variance between the allegation and the proof as to the…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Commonwealth v. HusseyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1873
- Commonwealth v. GreenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1877
3Cited by14 opinions
- State v. MyersSupreme Court of Missouri · 1884
- Commonwealth v. GallagherMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1878
- State v. RosenbergSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1923
- Hammond v. StateSupreme Court of Arkansas · 1927
- Jenkins v. StateSupreme Court of Arkansas · 1917
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