Commonwealth v. Smith
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
This ' was a writ of certiorari upon a conviction, before Aaron Everett, Esq., a justice of the peace for this county, of Smith, the respondent, for neglect of duty as a private soldier in the militia.
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This ' was a writ of certiorari upon a conviction, before Aaron Everett, Esq., a justice of the peace for this county, of Smith, the respondent, for neglect of duty as a private soldier in the militia. The original complaint of the clerk of the company in which Smith was enrolled was for unnecessarily neglecting to appear on the 23d and 27th days of September, 1811, “for [#457] * company exercise,” and on the 3d day of October, 1811, “for inspection; ” and a fine of eight dollars was alleged to have been incurred by the said several neglects. Upon the hearing before the justice, the…
1Opinion of the CourtJackson, J.
If it appears, from this record, that the justice has mistaken the law, and imposed too high a fine for any one of the offences charged, the proceedings must be quashed, at least so far as respects that fine. The case cited in the argument, from 4 Mass. Rep. 239, is of that kind. The offence, which was there precisely alleged in the complaint, was one which did not, by the statute then in force, warrant the fine imposed. In the case at bar, the offence in question, as stated in the complaint, is neglecting to appear on the 3d of October, 1811, for inspection. If the complainant had called it…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Commonwealth v. WalkerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1808
- Commonwealth v. DouglasMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1820
- Pratt v. HallMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1808
3Cited by4 opinions
- Caskie's Ex'ors v. HarrisonSupreme Court of Virginia · 1882
- Cobb v. LucasMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1833
- State ex rel. Company G v. RyanSupreme Court of Iowa · 1897
- Thompson v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2020