Reed v. State

14 Tex. Ct. App. 662, 1883 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 225
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 31, 1883
DocketNo. 1494
StatusPublished

This text of 14 Tex. Ct. App. 662 (Reed v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reed v. State, 14 Tex. Ct. App. 662, 1883 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 225 (Tex. Ct. App. 1883).

Opinion

White, Presiding Judge.

Omitting the formal parts, it is alleged in the indictment “that George Reed, in said county and State, on the second day of February, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and eighty-three, did then and there unlawfully, in the night time, by force, break and enter a house then and there used and occupied by S. Simon, as a saloon, without the consent of said Simon, with the unlawful and fraudulent intent then and there, on the part of him, the said Reed, to take, steal and carry away from and out of said house one hundred and twenty-five dollars in good and lawful current money of the United States of America, of the value of one hundred [664]*664and twenty-five dollars, a part of said money being currency paper money, and a part silver money (a more particular or definite description of said money being unknown to the grand jury), the property of said Simon, without the consent of said Simon, and with the fraudulent intent then and there, on the part of him the said Reed, to deprive said owner of the value of said property and to appropriate the same to his, the said Reed’s, own use and benefit; against the peace and dignity of the State.”

A motion to quash the indictment was made, based upon two grounds: “1. It does not allege the entry to have been made without the free consent of any one besides the occupant authorized to give such consent.

“2. It does not allege that the money, with the intent to steal which the entry is charged to have been made, was in the possession of any one, and that it was the intent of the defendant to take such money from the possession of any one without his consent. It, therefore, does not charge an intent to commit theft.”

In the motion in arrest of judgment another ground urged to the sufficiency of the indictment is that “ it fails to allege that defendant ‘feloniously’made an entrance in said house;” and in the brief of counsel for appellant it is contended that “to charge the offense of burglary the indictment must allege that the entrance and breaking was ‘burglariously’ and ‘feloniously’ committed.”

Let us examine these last objections first. Mr. Bishop says: “The criminal act must be charged as done both ‘feloniously’ and ‘ burglariously ’—terms of art for which there are no substitutes.” But he says: “ There are statutes under which neither ‘burglariously’ nor ‘feloniously’ is required, but generally both are essential to the statutory indictment, the same as at common law.” (2 Bish. Crim. Proc., 3 ed., secs. 129,130.)

Before the adoption of our Codes it was held in our own State that the word “feloniously” was essential to all indictments for felony, whether at common law or statutory. (Cain v. The State, 18 Texas, 387.) It is now, however, expressly provided by statute that in an indictment for a felony it is not necessary to use the words ‘ ‘ felonious ” or “ feloniously. ” (Code Crim. Proc., Art. 428.) And even before this provision was incorporated into the Code it had been held that under its provisions it was not indispensable to the validity of an indictment [665]*665that the word “feloniously” should be used, even for a capital felony. (Calvin v. The State, 25 Texas, 789.) It was said in that case: “We think that the whole spirit of our Codes authorize the courts to dispense with what the books call £ terms of art,’ in the description of offenses in indictments, and also in every part of the indictment; and that even so- distinguished a word as ‘feloniously’ is no longer to be considered as a sine qua non in the administration of justice in this State.”

Like “feloniously,” the word “burglariously” is but a “term of art” which, under our statute, is not indispensable to the validity of an indictment for burglary, notwithstanding Mr. Wharton says that the offense of burglary “cannot be expressed by any other word or circumlocution,” (1 Whart. Crim. Law, 8 ed., sec. 814.)

Under our statute “the offense of burglary is constituted by entering a house by force, threats or fraud, at night, or in like manner by entering a house during the day and remaining concealed therein until night, with the intent in either case of committing felony, or the crime of theft.” (Penal Code, Art. 704.) • It seems to us that the acts constituting this offense can be expressed and charged “in plain and intelligible words ” without using the word “burglariously,” and with sufficient certainty to enable the accused to plead the judgment that may be given upon the indictment in bar of any prosecution for the same -offense. (Code Crim. Proc., Art. 422.)

This identical question came before the Supreme Court of Iowa in The State v. Short, 54 Iowa, 392, where the indictment failed to charge that the breaking and entry were “ burglarious,” -and it was said: “ The statute under which the indictment was found provides: ‘If any person break and enter any dwelling house in the night time with intent to commit a public offense, he shall be deemed guilty of burglary.’ (Code, sec. 3891.) The breaking and entering with the required intent constitutes the .-statutory crime. This is clearly charged, and the defendant is deemed guilty of burglary because the statute so provides. The material thing is the intent with which the breaking is done. This is sufficiently stated in the indictment.”

In Sullivan v. The State (13 Texas Ct. App., 462), it is said: “This (burglary) being a statutory offense, ‘burglariously’ and ‘feloniously ’ have no part or lot in the matter;” and in substance .and effect the same thing had been previously decided in Rob[666]*666ertson v. The Slate, 32 Texas, 159. The question is no longer an open one in this State.

As to the objection that the indictment does not allege that the entry was made without the free consent of any one besides the occupant authorized to give consent, it was held in Mace v. The State, 9 Texas Court of Appeals, 110, that it was “not necessary in an indictment for burglary to allege further (after negativing the consent of the occupant), that the entry was made without the consent of any one authorized to give consent. * * * The consent of any other party than the occupant, where such other party is claimed to have authority to give consent, is purely matter of defense.” In Williams v. The State, 41 Texas, 99, it was held that “it was not even necessary, in an indictment of this character, to allege the want of consent on the part of the owner or occupant of a house burglariously entered. The charge of an entry with force and with a felonious intent, negatives the presumption of consent by the owner or occupant. ” In Sullivan’s case, 13 Texas Court of Appeals, supra, it is said: “We cannot conceive it possible for a party to burglariously break or enter a house with intent to commit felony or theft, with the consent of the owner or occupant; for if there was consent the felony would be eliminated. We are of opinion that the indictment need not allege want of consent. In so far as a contradictory doctrine is intimated and held in Brown v. The State, 7 Texas Court of Appeals, 619, that case is overruled.” See, also, Summers v. The State, 9 Texas Court of Appeals, 396, where the same rule is announced.

A more serious question is presented in the last objection we propose to notice, which is that the indictment fails to allege that the property or money was intended to be or was

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Related

Cain v. State
18 Tex. 387 (Texas Supreme Court, 1857)
Calvin v. State
25 Tex. 789 (Texas Supreme Court, 1860)
State v. Robertson
32 Tex. 159 (Texas Supreme Court, 1869)
State v. Williams
41 Tex. 98 (Texas Supreme Court, 1874)
State v. Short
6 N.W. 584 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1880)

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Bluebook (online)
14 Tex. Ct. App. 662, 1883 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reed-v-state-texapp-1883.