Samuel F. Tincher v. Otto C. Boles, Warden of the West Virginia State Penitentiary

In this habeas corpus petition, Tincher complained that the indictment upon which he was convicted of statutory rape failed to specify the day, the month, or the year of the offense charged. Con cerned about the efficacy of the conviction as a bar to a subsequent prosecution, we appointed counsel for Tincher and have fully considered briefs, supplemental briefs and oral arguments of counsel.

Other information in the indictment supplies some limitations to the unspecificity of the allegation of the time of the offense. The indictment is in the form prescribed by statute, and the spaces for the…