Parsons v. People
Michigan Supreme Court
Error to Branch. Circuit. Parsons was charged on the complaint of 'William E. O’Rourke, before a Justice of the Peace, with haying committed the crime of adultery with one Sarah M. O’Rourke, she then being the lawful wife of the complainant. Subsequently the Prosecuting Attorney for Branch County filed an information against Parsons for tbe same offense, on which he was arraigned and pleaded not guilty.
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Error to Branch. Circuit. Parsons was charged on the complaint of 'William E. O’Rourke, before a Justice of the Peace, with haying committed the crime of adultery with one Sarah M. O’Rourke, she then being the lawful wife of the complainant. Subsequently the Prosecuting Attorney for Branch County filed an information against Parsons for tbe same offense, on which he was arraigned and pleaded not guilty. On the trial the prosecution produced as a witness Sarah M. O’Rourke, the wife of the complainant, William F. O’Rourke. The defendant objected to her being sworn and examined as a witness…
1Opinion of the Court
Campbell, Ch. J.
Plaintiff in error, having been convicted of adultery, ¡alleges as error that the wife of the complainant was allowed to give testimony against him.
He relies on the latter clause of § J¡SJ$ of the Compiled Laws (amended in L. 1860, p. 169, and L. 1869, p. 150) which declares' that “in any action or proceedings, instituted by the husband or wife in consequence of adultery, the husband and wife shall not be competent to testify.” In connection with this he refers to § 5858, which provides that “No prosecution for adultery shall be commenced but on the complaint of the husband or…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- State v. CrowleySupreme Court of Alabama · 1848
3Cited by7 opinions
- Egbert v. GreenwaltMichigan Supreme Court · 1880
- United States v. FolletteDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania · 1940
- People v. WhitneyMichigan Supreme Court · 1895
- Bayliss v. PeopleMichigan Supreme Court · 1881
- People v. SebringMichigan Supreme Court · 1887
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