Opinion

State v. . Patrick

  • 79 N.C. 655
Court
Supreme Court of North Carolina
Filed
Jun 5, 1878
Status
Published
Author
Faiucloth
On the bench
Faiucloth
Cited by
7 cases
Authority
More cited than 80.2%

The opinion

Faiucloth, J.

The objection in this case is to the sufficiency of the description of the property in the bill of indictment, to wit, “ one pound of

meat

of the value of five-cents.” We find no direct authority in our Reports nor in the text books. In

State

v. Morey, 2 Wis. 362 , the same

*656

question was presenter], and the Court held that “ in an indictment for larceny, the property which is alleged to have been stolen should be described with reasonable certainty; and a charge of stealing

meat

which applies not only to the flesh of all animals, used for food, but in a general sense, to all kinds of provisions, is too vague and uncertain.” In this conclusion we concur. Such articles have more specific names in commerce and in the country, which ought to be employed in criminal proceedings.

We cite the following cases merely as a reference to the several phases in which the question of description of stolen property has been considered':

State

v.

Brown, 1 Dev.

137;

State

v. Godet, 7 Ire. 210;

State

v.

Clark,

8 Ire. 226;

State

v.

Horan,

Phil. 571;

State

v. Campbell, 76 N. C. 261 ;

State

v.

Krider,

78 N. C. 481 .

In

State

v.

Jenkins,

78 N. C. 478 , the word

meat

is used in the syllabus and report, of the case. It should have been

bacon,

as appears from the original papers on file, and we refer to it to avoid misconception, the point there decided being different from the one in our case. Let this be certified to the end that judgment be arrested.

Error. Judgment arrested.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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