7 N.C. 229
Supreme Court of North Carolina
Decided May 15, 1819
Supreme Court of North Carolina · decided 1819-05-15
1 I From Edgecombe. J The indictment charged, “that Henry Waller, late of “ the County of Edgecombe, yeoman, on the first day of “ January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight “ hundred and seventeen, and on divers other clays and “ times, as well before as afterwards, was, and yet is, a “ common, gross, and notorious drunkard, and that he, on “ ^10 sa^ ^anuaiT’ i*1 the year aforesaid, and e‘ on divers, other days and times,, in the County aforesaid, “ did then and…
Cited by 2 later decisions — most recently December 1964
2 state decisions
Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know
Decided 1819-05-15
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¶1delivered the opinion of the Court:
¶2Private drunkenness is no offence by our municipal laws. It becomes so by being open and exposed to public view, to that extent that it thereby becomes a nuisance, commune uocumentum ; and that is a question of fact to be tried by the Jury. There being no charge in this indictment to that effect, the Jury has not, and could not pass on it; which being of the very essence of the crime, the judgment must be arrested.