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126 Ala. 63

Eldridge v. State

Supreme Court of Alabama

Decided November 15, 1899

Supreme Court of Alabama · decided 1899-11-15

A. D. Sayre. 'The appellant Jim Eldridge was indicted, tried and ■convicted for bigamy, in that, having a wife living, he •unlawfully married one Sylvia Williams. On the trial of the case, the State offered to introduce in evidence a marriage license which was issued by the Judge of Probate of Montgomery county, authorizing ■the celebration of the rite of matrimony between Jim Eldridge, colored, aud Sarah Lewis, colored.

Relies on Beggs v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1899-11-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 7 later decisions — most recently March 1969

7 state decisions

2018991900191019201930194019501960decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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McOLELLAN, C. J.

¶1The certified copies of the marriage licenses issued, to the defendant and the certificates of the officiating ministers of the solemnizations of the rites of matrimony between the parties named in the licenses, the certificates being appended to the licenses and referring to them for the names of the parties, were properly received in evidence under sections 2846 and '2847 of the Code.Beggs v. State, 55 Ala. 108.

¶2The testimony of the witness Robinson was in rebuttal of testimony offered by the defendant, the testimony ■of the defendant himself, as to communications between him and Robinson, and was therefore properly received although it would have been inadmissible, because involving the disclosure of confidential communications between attorney and client, as original testimony.

¶3The testimony of Robinson on cross examination included some statements with reference to.the filing of a bill for divorce in behalf of Eldridge against the woman to whom he was first married. This did not give defendant the right to then put in evidence the indorsements upon the bill of complaint.

¶4It is true there was no direct evidence that the first wife was living at the time of defendant’s second marriage ; but there was abundant evidence to afford a basis for an inference by the jury to that effect, and the affirmative charge requested by defendant, on the theory that there was no evidence that the first wife was in life when the second marriage was solemnized, was properly refused.

¶5The intent essential to crime is the intent to do an act which is violative of law. There need be no intent to violate km as is assented in the second charge refused to defendant. ■

¶6Nor can a defendant who has committed an act denounced as criminal by the law shelter himself from punishment under a mistaken belief that the act was not criminal. The third charge requested by defendant was, therefore, also properly refused.

¶7Affirmed.

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