State v. Foster

Texas Supreme Court
State v. Foster, 31 Tex. 578 (Tex. 1869)
Lindsay

State v. Foster

Opinion of the Court

Lindsay, J.

—An indictment for simple fornication does *579not lie under the Penal Code of Texas. The code prescribes that every offense must be defined before it is punishable under the penal laws of the state. A mixed offense of adultery and fornication is defined by the statute, for which each of the parties may be held amenable to the law, and receive the infliction of its penalties. But the definition of this mixed offense is, that the parties must live together in a state of cohabitation. The several provisions of the statute show clearly that the living together in such a state was the specific offense designed to be punished. This is the offense defined as adultery by the statute. The moral offense of fornication is not defined by the code. And it is declared by the code, in Paschal’s Digest, article 1605, “no person shall be punished for any act or omission, as a penal offense, unless the same is expressly defined,” &c. Therefore the indictment, which was for simple fornication, was properly quashed by the court, and the judgment is

Affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
State v. John Foster
Cited By
5 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
The 392d article of the Penal Code declares the punishment for fornication. But articles 293, 294, and 295 are confined to adultery alone; and fornication is nowhere defined in the code. (Paschal’s Dig., Arts. 2022-2025.) No person can be punished unless the offense is defined and the penalty affixed by the written law of the State. (Paschal's Dig., Art. 1605.)