Benbow v. State
Supreme Court of Alabama
Appeal from the City Court of Montgomery. Tried before the Hon. A. D. Sayre. The appellant in this case was tried under an indictment which charged that she “willfully set fire to or burned a dwelling house of Pat Gibbons, in which there was at the time a human being,” etc. The defendant was convicted of an attempt to commit arson, and sentenced to the penitentiary for two years.
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Appeal from the City Court of Montgomery. Tried before the Hon. A. D. Sayre. The appellant in this case was tried under an indictment which charged that she “willfully set fire to or burned a dwelling house of Pat Gibbons, in which there was at the time a human being,” etc. The defendant was convicted of an attempt to commit arson, and sentenced to the penitentiary for two years. On the trial of the case, the evidence for the State showed that the house occupied as a dwelling by Pat Gibbons, and his wife was set fire to by oil being poured on the lattice-work attached to the front porch,…
1Opinion of the CourtMcClellan, C. J.
Setting fire to or burning a dwelling house is arson in the first degree, if the house is inhabited, and in the second degree, if it is not inhabited; and is always a felony. — Code, §§ 4336, 4337. Such burning can never, of course, be arson in the third degree, which is a misdemeanor. — Code, § 4340. An indictment charging the burning of a dwelling house, charges also an attempt to burn a dwelling house, for an accomplished burning necessarily includes every element of an abortive attempt — the major offense charged embraces all minor offenses which would be necessarily committed in…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Gilmore v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1892
- James v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1893
- Stone v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1896
- State v. McFarlandSupreme Court of Alabama · 1898
- Lynch v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1889
3Cited by3 opinions
- State v. PisanoSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1928
- Hutto v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1910
- Crow v. StateTennessee Supreme Court · 1916