Walker v. Territory of New Mexico
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff in error, hereafter called the defendant was indicted in the county of Chaves, territory of New Mexico, for the larceny of one neat cattle, of the value of $10 of the property of the El Capitan Live Stock Company, a corporation, and was convicted and sentenced from one to two years in the penitentiary. This judgment was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the territory,. and the case is now here on writ of error.
It is assigned as error that the Supreme Court erred in not holding that the action of the trial court in overruling defendant’s motion for a continuance did not constitute, reversible error. We think the record presents a very close question upon this point, but as the case must be reversed upon another ground we pass the question, as it will not probably occur again.
AVe think the weight of authority is in favor oj the proposition that, when the prosecutor in the case at bar alleged that the Eive Stock Company was a corporation, he made that fact material. 1 Bishop, New Crim. § 488B, and cases cited. AYhen the proof of incorporation, however, was offered, it showed that the El Capitan Eive Stock Company, a corporation, could not have been the owner of the brand filed for record in 1899. AYith the brand out of the case, the evidence of the territory failed to show the ownership of the calf alleged to have been stolen, and we think the Supreme Court erred in not reversing the judgment below.
Eor the reasons above stated, the judgment of the Supreme Court and the judgment of the district court in and for Chaves county, N. M., are reversed, and the case is remanded, with instructions to grant a new trial.
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- WALKER v. TERRITORY OF NEW MEXICO
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