Commonwealth v. Proprietors of Newburyport Bridge
This text of 26 Mass. 142 (Commonwealth v. Proprietors of Newburyport Bridge) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
The answer to the first objection is, that the defendants completed the bridge and took toll ; and if so, we think they were bound to provide the means prescribed by the statute, to enable vessels to pass with convenience through the draw.
But we think the objection, that the indictment does not allege that any bridge has been built, is fatal. It may indeed be inferred by any common reader, that there was a bridge ; but no lawyer, considering that inferences are not to be made in criminal cases, would say it appears that a bridge had been built. There ought to have been an express allegation to that effect.
Indictment quashed.
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26 Mass. 142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-proprietors-of-newburyport-bridge-mass-1829.