Mills v. State

52 Ind. 187
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 15, 1875
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 52 Ind. 187 (Mills v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mills v. State, 52 Ind. 187 (Ind. 1875).

Opinion

Buskirk, J.

The appellant in this cause was prosecuted and tried on the following indictment:

“State of Indiana, Lagrange county, ss. In the March term of the Lagrange Circuit Court, A. D. 1874. The State of Indiana v. Jacob Mills.

“ The grand jurors for the county of Lagrange, upon their oath, present that, at said county and State, on the 24th day of April, A. D. 1872, Jacob Mills did, in a rude, insolent and angry manner, unlawfully touch, strike and wound Lovinna Draggoo, a woman, and did, then and there, her, the said Lovinna Draggoo, a woman, unlawfully, forcibly, and against her will, feloniously ravish and carnally know.

“Cyrus M. Wade, Special Pros. Att’y.”

At the March term, 1874, of the Lagrange Circuit Court, the appellant, before pleading, moved to strike out of the indictment that portion which charges a simple assault and battery, which motion was overruled, and exception taken. He then moved the court to compel the prosecutor to elect on which charge contained in the indictment he would try the appellant, which motion was sustained, and the prosecutor elected to try him upon the charge of rape alone. Appellant then moved to quash the indictment, which was overruled, and exception taken.

He was then arraigned, and pleaded not guilty, and was tried by a jury, who returned the following verdict:

“We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of assault and battery, and fix his fine at eight hundred dollars, and four months’ imprisonment in the county jail.

“ T. G. Starkey, Foreman.”

[189]*189The defendant then moved to be discharged from further prosecution, for the reason that the verdict of the jury operated as an acquittal, which was overruled, and exception reserved.

A motion was then made for a new trial, which was granted, and the cause continued.

At the next term, the cause being called for trial, appellant objected to being again put on trial, and filed his reasons therefor, in writing, but the objection was overruled, and exception was taken.

He then objected to being put on trial for rape, which the court sustained. He next objected to being put on trial for assault and battery, with intent to commit a rape, which was also sustained; and he then objected to being put on trial for an assault and battery, which was overruled, and exception taken.

The defendant, over his objection, was arraigned, and, refusing to plead, the court entered a plea of not guilty for him, and placed him on trial, and a trial was had, and a verdict returned of guilty of assault and battery.

Motion for a new trial was again made and overruled, and then in arrest of judgment, which was also overruled, and judgment rendered on the verdict.

It is strenuously insisted by counsel for the appellant, that the indictment, consisting of a single count, contained two substantive offences, the one for an assault and battery, and the other for a rape.

It is further contended, that the election made by the prosecuting attorney was the equivalent of a nolle prosequi, or a quashal, and was an abandonment of the charge of an assault and battery, whether as a substantive charge or as embraced in the charge of rape.

It is firmly settled by the authorities, that where one count contains two substantive offences, or where several substantive offences are charged in different counts, and the State elects to place the accused upon trial for one of such offences, such election amounts to an entire abandonment of [190]*190the charge for which the State refuses to place the accused upon trial, and such offence ceases to constitute a part of the indictment, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the prosecutor had entered a nolle prosequi, or the court had quashed the count, or a part of the count, containing such offence. When an election is made, the accused is entitled to a discharge as to the offence for which he is not placed on trial. Nearly all of the text writers and adjudged cases speak of an election as the equivalent of quashing by the court or entering a nolle prosequi by the prosecuting attorney.

1 Bishop Crim. Pro., sec. 455, lays down the doctrine thus:

“ One mode of enforcing what is equivalent to an election is to quash the indictment before trial, when it appears to the judge that offences have been unduly joined, and that the prisoner will be thereby prejudiced on his trial.”

The same author, in section 456, says:

“Returning to what may be termed election proper, we find various sorts of election, and various cases, to be distinguished from one another. In the first place, the prosecuting officer may always nol. pros, any count of the indictment before the trial commences, or after it is over, though he cannot do this while it is in progress. He may, therefore, in analogy to this, elect to proceed only on certain counts of the indictment.”

The prosecuting officer may, on the trial, be required to elect on which count he will proceed, or to what transaction the evidence shall be restricted. See sections 459-460 of the above cited work. The author, in section 460, says:

“Where there is a single count in an indictment for a misdemeanor, as well as in an indictment for felony, whatever the number of counts, the court will restrict the prosecutor, by so compelling him to elect as shall prevent his giving evidence of more than the one transaction. And where in misdemeanor there are several counts, the evidence will be limited in a corresponding way, regard being had to the number and nature of the counts.”

[191]*191The doctrine, as stated above, is fully supported by the adjudged cases. McGregg v. The State, 4 Blackf. 101; Weinzorpflin v. The State, 7 Blackf. 186; The State v. Smith, 8 Blackf. 489; Engleman v. The State, 2 Ind. 91; Joy v. The State, 14 Ind. 139; The State v. Jones, 5 Ala. 666; Burk v. The State, 2 Har. & J. 426; The People v. Austin, 1 Parker C. C. 154; Bailey v. The State, 4 Ohio St. 440; The State v. Davis, 29 Mo. 391; Dowdy v. Commonwealth, 9 Grat. 727; The United States v. Dickinson, 2 McLean, 325; Hampton v. State, 8 Humph. 69; Storrs v. The State, 3 Mo. 9; Rex v. Young, Peake Ad. Cas. 228; S. C., Russ. & Ry. 280; Rex v. Smith, 3 Car. & P. 412; The State v. McPherson, 9 Iowa, 53; Mayo v. The State, 30 Ala. 32; The State v. Fowler, 8 Foster, N. H. 184; The State v. Flye, 26 Me. 312; The State v. Phinney, 42 Me. 384; Baker v. The State, 4 Pike, 56; Kane v. The People, 8 Wend. 203.

The case of Joy v. The State, 14 Ind. 139, is very much in point in the case under examination. There the indictment contained two counts for murder in the first degree. After the jury was empanelled and sworn, the defendant moved the court to require the prosecutor to elect on which count he would put him on trial. The court required the election. The prosecutor elected to go to trial on the first count. The defendant then moved to quash the first count.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Richardson v. State
717 N.E.2d 32 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1999)
Cichos v. State
208 N.E.2d 685 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1965)
West v. State
92 N.E.2d 852 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1950)
Hickman v. State
177 N.E. 837 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1931)
Fisher v. State
168 N.E. 611 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1929)
Lenko v. State
163 N.E. 834 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1928)
Kleopfer v. State
163 N.E. 93 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1928)
Cambron v. State
133 N.E. 498 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1922)
United States v. Munday
211 F. 536 (W.D. Washington, 1914)
Gordon v. State
98 N.E. 627 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1912)
State v. Cowing
108 N.W. 851 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1906)
State v. Trusty
97 N.W. 989 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1904)
State v. Balsley
65 N.E. 185 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1902)
Hauk v. State
46 N.E. 127 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1897)
Jones v. State
20 N.E. 634 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1889)
Warner v. State
16 N.E. 189 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1888)
Stewart v. State
13 N.E. 59 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1887)
Glover v. State
10 N.E. 282 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1887)
State v. Fisher
3 N.E. 379 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1885)
Johnson v. McCulloch
89 Ind. 270 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1883)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
52 Ind. 187, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mills-v-state-ind-1875.