Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1819

State v. Waller

State v. Waller
Supreme Court of North Carolina · Decided May 15, 1819 · Henderson
7 N.C. 229

State v. Waller

Opinion of the Court

Henderson, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the Court:

Private 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.

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