Smith v. Commonwealth
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Certiorari to the Court of Quarter Sessions of Union county. This was a prosecution against William E. Smith for soliciting a woman to commit adultery.
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Certiorari to the Court of Quarter Sessions of Union county. This was a prosecution against William E. Smith for soliciting a woman to commit adultery. The bill, which was found September 20th 1864, contained two counts:— 1. That the defendant “ with force and arms, intending to vitiate and corrupt the morals of one Rachael Dorman, a married woman having a husband living, and to stir up and excite in her mind lewd and unchaste desires and inclinations, on the day and year aforesaid, at the county aforesaid, did unlawfully and wickedly solicit and incite, and endeavor to persuade the said…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered, by
Woodward, C. J.
An attempt to commit a misdemeanor is a misdemeanor, whether the offence is created by statute, or was an offence at common law. These were the words of Baron Parke in the case of Rex v. Roderick, 7 C. & P. 795, delivered in the year 1837. They have been adopted by the compilers on criminal law: 1 Russ. on Crimes 46; 1 Arch. Crim. Plead. & Ev. 19; Wharton’s Crim. Law 79, 873.
Long before 1837, to wit, in 1801, it was held in The King v. Higgins, 2 East 5, that to solicit a servant to steal his master’s goods, is a misdemeanor, though it…
2Cited by29 opinions
- United States v. American Airlines, Inc. And Robert L. CrandallCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · 1984
- Commonwealth v. MoonSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1942
- State v. DonovanNew York Court of General Session of the Peace · 1914
- Commonwealth v. MochanSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1955
- Commonwealth Ex Rel. Case v. Smith, WardenSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1938
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