Holland v. State
Holland v. State
Opinion of the Court
The charging part of the indictment is that “Ruf. Holland did have habitual carnal intercourse with one Kate Scott, she the said Kate Scott being then and there a female and legally married to another person, to wit, one S. S. Scott, and he the said Ruf. Holland a male.” A motion to quash by defendant upon the ground that the indictment charged no offense against the law was properly overruled.
It is true our statute (Penal Code, Art. 333), speaking of the parties to this crime, calls them “a man and woman,” and it is also true that in criminal pleading it is almost elementary that the statutory words should always be used in describing an offense. Still this rule, it seems, does not require strict particularity in an averment of sex in adultery and kindred crimes. In regard to rape, for instance, Mr. Bishop says: “Though rape
It has been repeatedly held that in criminal cases it is not necessary to set forth in the judgment the oath which was administered to the jury which tried the case, a statement that the jury were “sworn according to law” being all that is necessary to show that they were properly sworn; but, if it is attempted to set out the oath, then, if the oath as set out is not the one prescribed by the statute, the judgment will be reversed. (Edmundson v. The State, 41 Texas, 496; Bawcom v. The State, 41 Texas, 189; see Clark’s Crim. Law of Texas, pp. 508, 509, and notes.)
In the judgment in the record before us it is recited that the jury were “sworn to try the issue joined between the parties.” In cases less than capital the oath to be administered to jurors as prescribed by law is: “You and each of you solemnly swear that in the case of the State of Texas against [A. B.], the defendant, you will a true verdict render according to the law and the evidence; so help you God.” (Code Crim. Proc., Art 657.) This oath must be administered, and none other, though, as before stated, it is not necessary to recite it in terms in the judgment, because when the fact is stated that the jury were “sworn according to law,” that is sufficiently explicit, and carries with it the averment and presumption also that the statutory oath, and that alone, was administered. The oath shown by the record in this case is almost literally the same as in Bawcom’s case, supra.
That Katie Scott was a common prostitute was no excuse or justification of appellant, and had nothing to do with the case on trial. The court therefore did not err in refusing to permit defendant to introduce evidence to prove that fact.
For the errors pointed out the judgment is reversed and the cause remanded.
Reversed and remanded,
Opinion delivered May 9, 1883.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.