State v. Campbell
State v. Campbell
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Defendant, indicted under Sec. 8 of Act. No. 8 of the extra session of the General Assembly of 1870, was convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of one hundred dollars and to an imprisonment of three years at hard labor. He appealed.
His counsel filed in the lower court on his behalf a motion for a new trial, and also a motion in arrest of judgment. They were both overruled and bills of exception were reserved.
The section upon which the indictment was based is as follows:
“Be it enacted, etc., That whoever shall shoot at any dwelling house, school house, church house or outhouse, any person or persons being lawfully therein, shall, on conviction, be imprisoned at hard labor not exceeding ten years and fined not exceeding two thousand dollars.”
In the motion for a new trial it was alleged defendant was entitled to the same “because the verdict was contrary to law and evidence,
The minutes show that this motion was overruled, but no reasons were assigned by the judge for the ruling. Whether it was because the court did not accept as correct counsel’s statement of the facts, or whether, assuming it to be correct, it still considered the verdict to have been justified by the evidence, we do not know.
The bill of exception reserved states that “Defendant’s motion for a new trial hereto annexed on the grounds therein mentioned having been overruled by his Honor or the presiding judge on the grounds that” * * *******
Defendant excepted to the ruling and opinion of the court and reserved this his bill of exception, which, after having been submitted to the counsel of the State, was signed by his Honor the Judge, before judgment. The District Judge appended his signature to this bill as so written out. The bill leaves us still uninformed as to the grounds upon which the motion was overruled. Counsel contends that the signature of the judge to the bill is an admission by him of the correctness of the statement of the facts alleged in the motion for a new trial. We do not think so. The bill leaves matters just where the ruling left them, with the simple added fact that we are advised through the bill that the ruling, was excepted to.
As matters stand we are bound to affirm the ruling of the District Court.
It is hereby affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State of Louisiana v. Cornelius Campbell
- Status
- Published