Commonwealth v. Hodgkins
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Complaint on the St. of 1887, c. 314, entitled “ An Act for the protection of lobsters,” to the Municipal Court of Boston, alleging that the defendant on October 25, 1897, at Boston, “ did have in his possession six lobsters, each of said lobsters being then and there less than ten and one half inches in length, measuring from the extremity of the bone projecting from the head to the end of the bone of the middle flipper of the tail of each of said lobsters, extended on its…
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Complaint on the St. of 1887, c. 314, entitled “ An Act for the protection of lobsters,” to the Municipal Court of Boston, alleging that the defendant on October 25, 1897, at Boston, “ did have in his possession six lobsters, each of said lobsters being then and there less than ten and one half inches in length, measuring from the extremity of the bone projecting from the head to the end of the bone of the middle flipper of the tail of each of said lobsters, extended on its back its natural length,” etc. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Fessenden, J., it appeared that on, said…
1Opinion of the CourtLathrop, J.
The contention of the defendant is that the word “ lobsters ” in the complaint means by necessary intendment “ live lobsters,” and that, as the lobsters which he had in his possession were dead, there is a variance between the complaint and the proof. In Commonwealth v. Beaman, 8 Gray, 497, the rule of law in cases of larceny is thus stated by Mr. Justice Metcalf: “An indictment for a larceny of live animals need not state them to be alive, because the law will presume them to be so, unless the contrary be stated ; but' if, when stolen, the animals were dead, that fact must be stated; for, as…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Commonwealth v. HallMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1880
- Commonwealth v. PrescottMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1890
- Commonwealth v. YoungMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1896
3Cited by4 opinions
- Commonwealth v. DanzigerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1900
- Commonwealth v. ColemanMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1903
- Commonwealth v. DewhirstMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1906
- Commonwealth v. WorthMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1939