Pleasant v. State
Supreme Court of Alabama
' Error to the Circuit Court of Limestone. Tried before the Hon. Samuel Chapman. 1. There is nothing upon the face of the indictment, showing that the owner of Pleasant and the party murdered, although bearing the same names, were one and the same person. S. The words in the indictment, “ late of,” prefixed to the naine of the owner, William Copeland, used as they are, mean nothing and must be regarded as surplusage.
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' Error to the Circuit Court of Limestone. Tried before the Hon. Samuel Chapman. 1. There is nothing upon the face of the indictment, showing that the owner of Pleasant and the party murdered, although bearing the same names, were one and the same person. S. The words in the indictment, “ late of,” prefixed to the naine of the owner, William Copeland, used as they are, mean nothing and must be regarded as surplusage. The general use of those words in an indictment is merely to refer to the place where the defendant was conversant, or his residence at the time of the finding of the indictment,…
1Opinion of the CourtD Arc An, C. J.
Pleasant, a slave, was indicted in the Circuit Court of Limestone, for the murder of William Copeland, and having been convicted and judgment of death pronounced against him, he prosecutes a writ of error to this court. The indictment charges him to be a slave, the property of the late William Copeland, &c. Two questions are raised by this averment: 1. Is it necessary in an indictment against a slave for a capital offence, to allege who is his owner ? 2. If so, is the ownership of the accused sufficiently alleged ? In the case of Flora v. The State, 4 Porter, 111, this court held that in the…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Flora v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1836
- Phereby v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1849
3Cited by4 opinions
- Beall v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1875
- Cooksey v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1936
- State v. HammonsSupreme Court of Missouri · 1910
- Alsey v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1866