Merritt v. State
Merritt v. State
Opinion of the Court
The offense in this case, to wit, “adultery,” is charged to have been committed on the 20th day of April, 1879, and at divers other times before and after that time. The indictment was filed the 18th day of June, 1879, before our Revised Penal Code went into operation. On the trial the judge charged the jury the law in accordance with the definition of the offense as given in art. 333, Penal Code, instead of the law as in force when the offense was committed. Pasch. Dig. art. 2024. Under previous decisions, however, there is really but little if any difference in the construction placed upon the old law and the statute as at present existing. Swancoat v. State, 4 Texas Ct. App. 105; Parks v. State, 4 Texas Ct. App. 134; Merrill v. State, 5 Texas Ct. App. 447.
But two witnesses were examined, the mother of the girl with whom the adultery was alleged to have been committed, and the girl herself. The girl, who was in law a partieeps criminis, as such should' have been corroborated by other testimony tending to establish the guilt of defendant. In our opinion this was not sufficiently done. The girl’s mother testified to nothing corroborative in the slightest degree, save that defendant stayed at her house
The evidence not being sufficient to support the verdict and judgment, the court below erred in not granting a new trial; and the judgment is reversed and cause remanded.
Reversed and remanded.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.