Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

5 Gratt. 657

Ratcliffe v. Commonwealth

General Court of Virginia

Decided June 15, 1848

General Court of Virginia · decided 1848-06-15

At the November term 1843, of the County Court of Chesterfield, the attorney for the Commonwealth filed an information, founded on a presentment of the grand jury, against John Ratcliffe, for that he within twelve months preceding the second Monday in August 1843, wit, on the 19th day of May 1843, at the county of Chesterfield, knowingly and wilfully, without lawful authority, did remove a fence from the lands of Joseph Pollard and John Poioell, leased by Wilson Bottom for…

Cited by 1 later decisions — most recently November 1893

1 state decisions

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1848-06-15

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Leigh, J.

¶1delivered the opinion of the Court:

¶2A majority of the Court is of opinion, that the information in this case charges but one offence, either the offence of removing the fence, or the offence of injuring the crop growing on the land by removal of the fence. And being of opinion, if the defendant removed the fence under a claim of right, believing it to be his own, and that he had a bona fide right to it, that he committed no offence by the removal of the said fence; and that therefore the County Court erred in refusing to give the fourth instruction asked for on the trial by the defendant. The Court doth therefore reverse the judgment, and doth remand the case to the Circuit Court for the county of Chesterfield, with instructions to that Court to reverse the judgment of the County Court, and to remand the case to the said County Court for a new trial to be had therein, with instructions to the said Court to give, on the said new trial, the said fourth instruction, if the same shall be again asked for.

¶3Judges Scott and Field dissent from the judgment, being of opinion that the information charges two dis*660tinct offences; and that all the instructions asked for, were too broad; and for this that the Court rightly refused to give them.

¶4Lomax, J. not being sustained by the rest of the Court in his objection to the information itself as being bad, concurs in the judgment of Judges Smith and Leigh.

/5/gratt/657 · .json · Public domain