Vance v. State
Vance v. State
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Appellant, a school teacher in Newton County, has been convicted of the crime of perjury in swearing to an official report of his school, and has been sentenced to seven years in the penitentiary. He taught a free public school at Erin School-house in said county during both the first and second scholastic terms of the year 1880. The first term closed by law on the last day of August of that year. The day fell on Monday; and though the time limited by law for keeping open the school and for receiving payment from the county closed on that day, by consent of the patrons the school continued until Friday, on which day it closed for the term. At the termination attention was called to the fact that appellant had thus taught four days longer than he could by law be allowed payment for. The report for that month was properly made out, but it was agreed between himself and patrons (all save one assenting to it) that the four days thus lost, for which the county could pay nothing, should be made up to the teacher during the ensuing term. The school opened again for the next term with the month of November, and at the end of that month scholars enough were falsely added to the true number attending the school to make up for the number of days understated in August. It is for swearing to this false report that appellant has been convicted and sentenced. This cannot be considered as merely getting back in November that
When the names of scholars were carried forward and falsely added to November, the appellant was seeking, by false swearing, to collect something from the county to which he was not entitled. He well knew that his report in November was false in fact; but the result of swearing to it, as he must have known would be the case, was to give him something not legally his. Can he escape the penalty of his false oath by saying that though he knew it was false, his neighbors were equally ignorant of the law as himself ? This would be to excuse the taking of an oath intentionally false upon the ground that somebody else concurred with him in a mistake of law. When a man intentionally makes a false oath to obtain something which the law does not give him, he is guilty of perjury, and cannot excuse himself by saying that somebody else equally ignorant of the law advised him to do it. Whatever difference it may make, in foro oonsdentice, it can make none in law. He was not ignorant of the falsehood he uttered, and his ignorance of the law as to what might have been the result of that falsehood, if true, cannot affect the result. He falsely swore that he had taught a certain number of children in November. He had really taught longer than required in August, but such teaching constituted no claim against the county; so that both the oath in November and the result accomplished by it were false. The crime of
Reference
- Full Case Name
- A. M. Vance v. State
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 3. Perjury. False report of school teacher. Case in judgment. Y. taught a-free public school for two terms in the year 1880. The close of the first term as prescribed by law was the last day of August, which was Monday, but with the consent of the patrons V. taught the four remaining school days of that week. It was agreed between him and his patrons that for the four days during which he had thus taught without authority of law he should be compensated at the next term. Ilis teacher’s report for August did not embrace these four days. The second term began with November, and at the end of that month he made his monthly report, in which he falsely added enough names to the list of his pupils to entitle him to compensation equivalent to pay for the four days taught as above stated. This report was sworn to by V., and for making such oath he was indicted for perjury and convicted. Held, that not being entitled to pay for the. four days during which he taught after the termination of the first term, and having knowingly sworn falsely to his November report, Y. was guilty of willful and corrupt false swearing. 2. Pebjury. False oath to obtain money. Where a person knowingly swears to a false statement in order to obtain money to which he is not legally entitled, and such oath is necessary to the obtaining of the money, he is guilty of perjury. Whether intentional false swearing to a legal claim for money is perjury, quaere. 3. Same. Number of witnesses required. Defendants testimony. The rule requiring two witnesses, or one witness and corroborating circumstances, to prove perjury, is satisfied by the testimony of one witness, together with that of the defendant where his own testimony shows his guilt. 4. Same. Fitot in instructions. Verdict supported by evidence. Supreme court practice. This court will not reverse the judgment on a conviction for perjury, because of error in the instructions for the State, where the testimony of the defendant as well as that of other witnesses clearly evinces his guilt.