State v. Cooper

Decided March 15, 1844

Supreme Court of Vermont · decided 1844-03-15

Information in two counts, — alledging in the first count that the respondent burglariously and feloniously entered the dwelling house of one Cyrus Marston, of Berlin, in the night time, with intent to commit a rape, &c., — and, in the second count, that-he entered burglariously, &c., the same dwelling house, in the night time, with intent to commit adultery, &c. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on the second count.

Cited in Bouvier (1914)’s definition of “Burglary” · Bouvier (1914)’s definition of “Felony”

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1844-03-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently June 1977

5 state decisions

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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¶1The opinion of the court was delivered by

Williams, Ch. J.

¶2The respondent was indicted for burglary, and was convicted on the second count, — which charges him, in *554substance, with breaking and entering a dwelling house in the night time, with intent to commit adultery.

¶3Our statute makes it burglary for any one, in the night time, to break and enter any dwelling house, &c., with intent to commit the crime of “murder, rape, robbery, larceny, or any other felony.” Adultery was not a felony at common law, nor a crime to be punished in the common law courts. Neither does our statute make it felony. Nor does it come within any definition of felony, which can be found. Until the legislature think proper to declare the transaction, of which the respondent was found guilty, an offence, we cannot determine it so to be.

¶4The judgment of the county court is reversed, and judgment arrested.