State v. Moore

105 P. 293, 36 Utah 521, 1909 Utah LEXIS 91
Utah Supreme Court·Decided November 13, 1909·No. No. 2088·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

FRICK, J.

Appellant was convicted of the crime of adultery. After the overruling of motions in arrest of judgment and for a new trial, the court entered'judgment imposing the statutory penalty for the offense, and the appellant appeals.

The first error assigned relates to the sufficiency of the information. After charging that the appellant was a married woman and the wife of one C. H. Moore, and that she, on a certain date, in the county of Utah, State of Utah, committed the crime of adultery with one Arthur J. Morrow, the information contains a description or statement of how the offense was committed in the following language: “By then and there feloniously permitting the said Arthur J. Morrow to have . . . carnal knowledge of her body,” etc. Counsel for appellant now insists that this did not charge her with having committed the offense, but rather charged Morrow with having done so. In other words, it is contended that, by the language 1 quoted above, appellant is not charged with having done anything, but only with permitting something to be done by another. By referring to section 4131, Comp. Laws 1907, it will appear that the information in this case substantially complies with the form there prescribed for stating how an offense was committed. Moreover, the information responds to the requirements of section 4Y32, and is clearly sufficient. Counsel for appellant contends that the offense was completely charged in the information before the words which we-have quoted were added to it. If this were so, then the information would still be sufficient, and the statement quoted by us would be mere surplusage and harmless. (Joyce on Indictments, secs. 421, 422.) We are clearly of the opinion that the information is not vulnerable to the criticisms alleged against it by counsel. This assignment must therefore be overruled.

The next assignment relates to the ruling of the court in admitting in evidence against the appellant certain admissions or statements made by her to the sheriff of Utah County and his wife while appellant was in the custody of the sher[524] iff. Counsel for appellant in bis brief sets forth the sheriff’s testimony, as follows: “On the morning of the 23d of June, I went into the room with my wife and asked her her name, age, and residence, as we do in those eases for record; and at that time is when I asked her. She said her name was Mrs. Elizabeth Moore. I asked her if she was the wife of C. H. Moore, and she said she was.” The sheriff claimed that he obtained the foregoing information from appellant pursuant to subdivision 6, sec. 575, Comp. Laws 1907. In that section the duties of the sheriff are prescribed, and subdivision 6 aforesaid provides that he shall “receive and safely keep all persons duly committed to his custody . . . and keep a. record of each,, showing the name, age, and place of birth, particularly describing the person, in a book kept for that purpose.” It is urged by appellant’s counsel that the foregoing statements made by her were in the nature of a confession, and, as the information referred to was required by statute, and appellant was required to disclose the same to the sheriff, that, therefore, the statements 2 were not voluntary, ■ and hence should have been excluded. If the statute required a person to state anything in the nature of a confession or admission of guilt, the question raised by counsel would be a serious one. It will be seen at a glance, however, that the information which the sheriff is required tO’ obtain from a prisoner under the statute in no way relatés to any offense that an accused person may be charged with. It certainly cannot seriously be contended that merely giving one’s name, age, and place of birth is in the nature of a confession of guilt. But it is contended that the sheriff went farther than this in asking the appellant whether or not “she was the wife of C. H. Moore.” Grant this, and still the statement made by appellant that she was the wife of Mr. Moore was not in the nature of a confession of guilt. True it is, that, in order to' constitute the offense with which she was charged, it was essential under our statute (section 4210, Comp. Laws 1907) to prove that she was a married woman, and the wife of some man other than the one with whom the act charged was com[525] mitted. To admit that sbe was a married woman and the wife of Mr. Moore, however, was not also an admission that she had committed the offense charged. It was, at most, an admission of a fact which was essential to be proved in Ofder to convict her of the offense charged. The admission of such a fact, however, does not come within what are termed confessions or admissions of guilt, as these terms are treated and applied by the courts and law-writers. It has frequently been held that in prosecutions for either adultery; or bigamy, admissions or statements made by the accused that he is a married man, are ordinarily not to be treated as confessions of guilt, and that such admissions or statements are admissible against him as evidence of marriage only, and not as confessions of guilt. The distinction between confessions and such admissions or statements is clearly stated, and applied in the following, among other, cases: People v. Strong, 30 Cal. 151, 157; People v. Parton, 49 Cab 632, 637; Taylor v. State, 37 Neb. 788, 56 N. W. 623. See, also, 3 Ency. of Ev., pp: 322, 323; 12 Cyc. 423. But, in any event, the record affirmatively shows that the statements made by the appellant were purély voluntary. When the sheriff asked her what her name was, she, as the record shows, replied: “Mrs. Elizabeth Moore.” The sheriff testified that, upon receiving this answer, “I asked her if she was the wife of Charles, or, rather C. II. Moore, and she said she was.” This statement or admission was clearly admissible against the appellant under the circumstances disclosed by the record, and the court, therefore, did not err in the ruling complained of.

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State v. Moore, 105 P. 293, 36 Utah 521, 1909 Utah LEXIS 91 (Utah 1909).

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