Miles v. State

Supreme Court of Alabama
Miles v. State, 58 Ala. 390 (Ala. 1877)
Beickell

Miles v. State

Opinion of the Court

BEICKELL, C. J.

The indictment is framed on the supposition that the consent of a man, and a woman, to commit adultery, or fornication, is a conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, and therefore indictable. We know of no authority for such a proposition; nor, so far as we can discover, was it ever before asserted, except in Shannon v. Commonwealth, 14 Penn. St. 226, and then it received unqualified diSa^pprO-*391bation. So long as tbe parties have proceeded no further than to consent and agree, tbe offense rests in mere intention, and a criminal intent must be accompanied by an act in furtherance of it, before it is tbe subject of indictment.

Tbe judgment must be reversed, and a judgment here rendered discharging tbe appellants from further prosecution.

Reference

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25 cases
Status
Published