Davis v. Commonwealth
Court of Appeals of Kentucky
Case 15 — INDICTMENT FOR BIGAMY. APPEAL FROM KENTON CRIMINAL COURT. First. The indictment does not inform the defendant of the particular circumstances of the offense charged, as required by the Code, and is therefore insufficient. “ The accused hath a right to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him.”
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Case 15 — INDICTMENT FOR BIGAMY. APPEAL FROM KENTON CRIMINAL COURT. First. The indictment does not inform the defendant of the particular circumstances of the offense charged, as required by the Code, and is therefore insufficient. “ The accused hath a right to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him.” (Constitution, sec. 12, art. 13.) In a prosecution for bigamy the Commonwealth must prove (1) a former marriage with some particular-named person; (2) that such person was alive at the time the marriage took place, for which he is indicted ; and (3), it must prove the marriage…
1Opinion of the CourtChief Justice Lindsay
The indictment in this case charges that “ Eliza A. Davis, on the-day of May, 1877, in the county and state aforesaid (Kenton County, Kentucky,) and before the finding of *320this indictment, having a husband then living, unlawfully married John Mackey, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”
The statute provides that, “Whoever being married, the first husband or wife, as the case may be, being alive, shall marry any person, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than three nor more than nine years.”
The indictment follows substantially the language of the statute,…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Mount v. CommonwealthCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1863
- Commonwealth v. PerrigoCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1860
- Commonwealth v. WhaleyCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1869
3Cited by20 opinions
- Commonwealth v. MixerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1910
- Braun v. StateCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1962
- People v. SpoorIllinois Supreme Court · 1908
- Carroll v. CommonwealthCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1915
- Allen v. CommonwealthCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1917
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