Smith v. State

(specially concurring, with whom GOODWYN, J., joins).

I concur in the result attained, but think a reversal can be rested on broader grounds.

I am beginning to doubt the soundness of the principle of the case of Garner v. State, 229 Ala. 600, 158 So. 546, and its predecessors referred to in the opinion of Mr. Justice Foster, supra, to the effect that it was the design of § 127 to eliminate criminal intent as an essential element of the serious crime of “embezzlement of public funds” denounced by that statute.

I am loath to overrule decisions and think my position as a devotee of the doctrine of…