West v. State

The appellant, Henry West, was indicted upon a charge of arson for the alleged burning of a negro Methodist Church, and was convicted and sentenced to serve five years in the state penitentiary, from which this appeal is prosecuted.

The charging part of the indictment reads as follows: “Did then and there wilfully, unlawfully, feloniously and maliciousy, in the nighttime, set fire and burn the Blue Ridge Colored Methodist Church House, the property of the Colored Methodist Conference, or of the Blue Ridge Colored Methodist Church, a religious organization, organized and existing for the…