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54 Ala. 88

Davis v. State

Supreme Court of Alabama

Decided December 15, 1875

Supreme Court of Alabama · decided 1875-12-15

Tried before Hon. Luther B. Smith. The appellant was tried and convicted on an indictment, which charged that he “ broke into and entered the shop, store, warehouse, or other building of Messrs. Lamb, Blair A Co., in which goods, merchandise or other valuable things were kept for use, sale or deposit, with intent to steal,” Ac. He moved in arrest of judgment, on the ground that the ownership was not properly laid in the indictment.

Relies on Beall v. State · Smith v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1875-12-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 7 later decisions — most recently November 1969

7 state decisions

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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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STONE, J.

¶1The indictment in this case is bad, because it does not specify the article or articles which constitute the “ other valuable things,” and does not aver that they are valuable. In this respect, it is not enough to follow the language of the statute.—See Hicks v. State, at present term, and authorities cited.

¶2We think, also, that the description, in the indictment, of the ownership of the shop, store, Ac., in which the goods, merchandise, Ac., were kept, should be specified with more particularity. The names of the persons composing the firm should be set out, that it may distinctly appear that the defendant is not one of them.—Beale v. State, 53 Ala. 460.

¶3*90There is also an error in the recital of the oath administered to the jury. It contains too much or too little. If the judgment entry had affirmed only that the jury were duly empanneled, sworn and charged, this would have been.sufficient. When, however, the entry purports to set out the oath that was administered, it must conform substantially to the form given in section 4092 Revised Code.—See Smith v. State, 53 Ala. 486. Errors of this kind occur so frequently, that more care should be exercised to prevent them.

¶4Judgment of the circuit court reversed and cause remanded. Let the prisoner remain in custody until discharged by due course of law.

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