Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1912

Smith v. State

Smith v. State
Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma · Decided February 3, 1912 · Eurman, Armstrong, Doyle, JJ-
120 P. 1031; 7 Okla. Crim. 4; 1912 OK CR 108; 1912 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 17

Smith v. State

Opinion of the Court

EURMAN, P. J.

In this case, the information charged appellant with having sold whisky, beer, wine, and ale. The testimony was that defendant sold a patent medicine, known as “American Elixir.” It is a fundamental principle of justice and law that a defendant cannot be charged with one offense and convicted of another. There was therefore a fatal variance between the allegations in the information and the testimony in this case. -If the information had charged that appellant had sold a patent medicine, known as “American Elixir,” and that the same was intoxicating, or that it was used as a substitute for intoxicating liquor, and that it contained as much as one-half of one per cent, alcohol, and the proof had shown that such patent medicine came within the provisions of the prohibitory liquor law, then a case would have been made against appellant.

The Attorney General has filed a confession of error in this case. The confession of error is sustained. The judgment of *5 the lower court is reversed, and the cause is remanded for a new trial.

ARMSTRONG and DOYLE, JJ-, concur.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.