Hughes v. State

Mississippi Supreme Court
Hughes v. State, 74 Miss. 368 (Miss. 1896)
Woods

Hughes v. State

Opinion of the Court

Woods, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

The motion in arrest of judgment should have been sustained. The cotton charged in the affidavit to have been stolen was not laid as the property of affiant or as in his possession, when alleged to have been stolen and carried away. It is matter of common knowledge that, on almost every plantation, others beside the owner of the plantation itself — the premises — -both own, and are in possession of, their own personal property. The defect is one of substance and not form, and may be taken advantage of by motion in arrest, as well as by demurrer before trial.

Reversed and remanded.

Reference

Full Case Name
Elias Hughes v. State of Mississippi
Cited By
8 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Criminal Law. Larceny. Ownership of property. Insufficiency of affidavit. Motion in a/rrest of judgment. An affidavit charging the larceny of cotton from affiant’s premises, shown to be a farm, is insufficient, if it contains no averment that the cotton was the property of another than the accused; and the defect, being one of substance, may be availed of in arrest of judgment.