Andrew G. v. Catherine A.

Citations

• 16 Fla. 830

Syllabus

<p>1. In a prosecution under tbe statute for the maintenance of bastard children, the complaint' should allege that the mother is a single or unmarried woman.</p> <p>2. Such a prosecution must be in the name of the State.</p> <p>3. A denial by tbe court of tbe defendant’s right to plead any pertinent matter of law or fact in avoidance of or in answer to the complaint and its material allegations is error.</p> <p>4. The swearing of the jury to try the issue “whether the defendant is the father of the bastard child of the plaintiff,” that being the issue framed by the court against the objection of the defendant, as this issue assumes that a child has been born and is a bastard, and is error, it is also erroneous in that the State, and not the complaining witness, is the plaintiff, and the issue is between the State and the defendant, and not between the witness and the defendant.</p> <p>5. The judgment in proceedings of this character, if against the accused, should he in favor of the State, and not in favor of the complaining witness, the mother of the child.</p> <p>6. The expenses attending the birth of a bastard child, when allowed by the court under the statute, should be ascertained by proofs and not otherwise, so that the defendant may have an opportunity to contest the facts.</p>