State v. Lawrence

74 Ohio St. (N.S.) 38
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 6, 1906
DocketNo. 9390
StatusPublished

This text of 74 Ohio St. (N.S.) 38 (State v. Lawrence) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Lawrence, 74 Ohio St. (N.S.) 38 (Ohio 1906).

Opinion

Chew, J.

The defendant in error, Howard F„ Lawrence, in his petition in error in the circuit court, assigned as grounds of error, in the record and proceedings of the court of common pleas, the following:

1. The court erred in overruling the motion of the plaintiff in error to quash the indictment in this action.
2. The court .erred in sustaining the demurrer to the plea in abatement of the plaintiff in error.
3. The court erred in striking from the files the application to amend the plea in abatement and in refusing to permit the same.
4. The court erred in overruling the demurrer of plaintiff in error to the indictment.
5. The court erred in overruling the motion of plaintiff in error for a change of venue.
6. The court erred in admitting testimony offered on the trial by the State and to which plaintiff in error at the time objected.
7. The court erred in rejecting evidence offered by the plaintiff in error on the trial of the cause and to which the plaintiff in error excepted.
8. The court erred in its charge to the jury.
[42]*429. The court erred in refusing to give the special charges requested by the plaintiff in error.
10. The verdict is contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence and the law.
11. There is no evidence to support the verdict.
■ 12. The verdict was given for the state when it should have been given in favor of the plaintiff in error.
13. The law which made the offense charged a crime at the time of its alleged commission, has since been repealed and is no longer in force.
14. The court erred in overruling the motion of plaintiff in error for a new trial.
15. The court erred in sentencing the defendant and the sentence is excessive.
16. Other errors apparent upon examination of the record.

These several assignments of error were all considered and sustained by the circuit court, except the first, second, fifth and seventh assignments, which were held by the court to be not well taken, and were overruled. Of the several errors thus found by the circuit court in the record and proceedings of the trial court, two only, we think, need be especially noticed or considered by us in this opinion, namely: the sixth and thirteenth assignments. The thirteenth assignment of error, was as above shown, that the law which made the offense charged a crime, at the time of its alleged commission, had prior to the time of the indictment and trial of said Howard F. Lawrence, in the court of common pleas, been repealed. Under this assignment it was claimed by counsel for Howard F. Lawrence, in the circuit court, and it is claimed by them here, that inasmuch ns the statute in force at the time of the alleged [43]*43commission of the crime charged, had, prior to the time of the indictment and trial of said Howard F. Lawrence, been repealed, that therefore his indictment was without authority of law, and Ms trial, conviction and sentence were illegal and void. And the circuit court so held and adjudged, predicating its'judgment in that behalf, solely upon the authority of In re Kline, 70 Ohio St., 25. While it must be admitted that this judgment of the circuit court finds apparent sanction and support in the language used by this court in the first paragraph of the syllabus of the case relied on, yet inasmuch as the question involved in the present case was neither involved, nor determined by the judgment in the Kline case, a consideration of the facts of that case, having due regard to the question then before the court, makes it clear, we think, that the judgment of this court in that case may not properly be invoked in support of the judgment of the circuit court in the present case.

The repeal under consideration in the Kline case was of the act familiarly known as the “Habitual Criminal Act. ’ ’ Previous to the repeal of said act, and while the same was yet in full force and effect, Kline had been indicted, convicted, sentenced and imprisoned thereunder, and at the time of the repeal of said act, his prosecution was fully ended. There was therefore no question before the court in that case, as to the effect such repeal would or could have on a pending prosecution, or a cause of prosecution existing at the time of said repeal; and section 79, Revised Statutes, was neither involved nor considered in the determination of that case. The first paragraph of the syllabus in the Kline case is as follows: “Where a statute defining a crime and prescribing the punishment therefor is repealed at [44]*44any time before final judgment thereunder, such repeal forecloses all further proceedings in such prosecution unless a contrary intent appears in the repealing statute. ’ ’ The language employed in this, paragraph, considered independently, and apart from the particular question then before the court for determination, is misleading, and undoubtedly states the rule of law too broadly. While, unquestionably, the law is, that the repeal of a statute which authorizes a prosecution and imposes a penalty, operates to prevent any prosecution, trial or judgment thereafter for an offense committed against said statute while it was yet in force, unless a contrary intent appears in the repealing statute, or some other then existing statute, yet it is equally the well settled law, of this state at least, that it is not necessary upon the repeal of a criminal statute., in order to preserve or save existing causes of prosecution, or the right to prosecute therefor, that the intent so to do shall appear in the repealing statute itself, for by section 79, Revised Statutes, it is expressly provided, that the repeal of a criminal statute shall in no manner affect causes of prosecution existing at the time of the repeal, unless it be otherwise expressly provided in the repealing act. Section 79 is as follows: “Whenever a statute is repealed or amended, such repeal or amendment shall in no manner effect (affect) pending actions, prosecutions, or proceedings, civil or criminal, and when the repeal or amendment relates to the remedy, it shall not effect (affect) pending actions, prosecutions, or proceedings, unless so expressed; nor shall any repeal or amendment effect (affect) causes of such action, prosecution, or proceeding, existing at the time of such amendment or repeal, unless other[45]*45wise expressly provided in the amending or repealing act. ’ ’ In the present case, the indictment against the defendant Howard F. Lawrence was found and returned by the grand jury of Holmes county, on September 29, 1903. The crime charged in said indictment was alleged to have been committed by him on April 26, 1901. The statute defining the crime charged, and in force on April 26, 1901, is section 6816, Revised Statutes, which provides as follows: “Whoever has carnal knowledge of a female person, forcibly and against her will, or, being eighteen years of age, carnally knows and abuses a female person under sixteen years of age, with her consent, is guilty of rape. ’ ’ This statute in its present form was enacted March 3, 1896 (92 O. L., 54), and it has not since, been either amended or repealed.

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Bluebook (online)
74 Ohio St. (N.S.) 38, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lawrence-ohio-1906.